Finding Yourself
by UGAgirl
Summary: Sakura leaves to become stronger after feeling like life is passing her by. Sasuke finally comes back after defeating Itachi, and wants to restore his clan. But will he get accepted by the village he left? And since when is he attracted to Sakura?
1. Standing Still

This is my first FanFic story, so any constructive criticism is welcomed and positive reviews even more so. I'm terrible at grammar, _especially_ tenses and POVs, so if anyone is interested in being my beta, or can point out some obvious mistakes I made, please send me a message.

This is a Sasuke/Sakura story, and there will be some Karin-bashing. If you do not like the central couple, then please refrain from flaming my story on that basis and just don't read this story. Now then, on to the story and I hope you enjoy.

**Warning****: There will be lemons/limes within this story later on. They will be marked if you want/need to skip them. **

'_thoughts'_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this story and my OC characters. This disclaimer is for the entire story. **

FINDING YOURSELF: Chapter 1 – Standing Still

Rookie Nine : Age 15 – Chūnins

Team Guy : Age 16 – Chūnins (Neji is a jōnin)

The rain slowly poured down around her, drenching her clothes and plastering her pink hair to her face. She looked up into the sky and let the rain gently run down her face, washing her tears away. A sense of peace fell over the beautiful kunoichi as she stares up into the dark clouds with streaks of lightning shooting across them.

_'It's funny how time can heal any wound, whether it's tangible or not. How much can change in only a blink of an eye. But the past always fades away. It's finally time to move on. I've become stuck once again in my life, and I need to find out where to go from here. It's nothing but work at the hospital or helping Lady Tsunade with her paperwork if I stay. I've learned everything she can teach me, it's time I try and stand on my own feet and see what I'm really made of.'_

With her thoughts still rolling, she performed a few hand signs and with a small puff of smoke nothing but a few cherry blossom petals were left to fall on the soaked ground.

- In Tsundae's office -

"How can so many freaking people have so much to complain about? Most of them just need to get a life! I mean really, if I'm the strongest fighter to represent the village, why am I always stuck in a damn office doing lousy paperwork? Shizune! Bring me more sake!" Tsunade yelled, rubbing her forehead with her fingers trying to alleviate the building headache from the stress.

"But my lady, you've already had an entire bottle today and it's hardly past noon. You don't need anymore," Shizune stubbornly replied back. "Besides, how do you expect to get your paperwork done if you're passed out drunk?" she asked.

"Who cares? This would take a lifetime to finish, so I might as well enjoy my life while I still have time right? So bring me more Sake!" Tsunade pouted, trying in vain to earn sympathy from her oldest student.

*Knock*Knock*

"Enter" Tsunade shouted, glad for a reprieve from the endless paperwork surrounding her and the impeding argument with Shizune over sake again.

Sakura opened the door and looked over at Tsunade barely visible behind her mountain of paperwork. "Trying to get out of doing your work again Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked while laughing at the look of frustration on her sensei's face.

"Sakura, it's good to see you. What are you doing here on your day off soaking wet?" Tsunade replied, a smile on her face at the sight of her prized pupil looking like a drowned rat in her office.

"Actually, I came to talk to you about something very important, and I need your help." Sakura responded, twisting her hair to leave a puddle on the floor.

"As long as it's not paperwork, I'll do it. So what is so important Sakura?"

"I … want to go traveling for a while, to train. Training here is only keeping me in shape, and I've learned all about medicine from you that I can. Naruto is away training with Jiraiya, and the elders have you too busy to really have time to train me anymore. So I was hoping I can have your permission to go training?" Sakura asked - her nervousness clear in her voice.

Tsunade looked at the young woman who had become like a daughter to her over the last three years of training her. She had grown so much over those years. A lot more mature, but more quick to temper than she used to be as a child. And her strength was at par with her own now. Sakura's skill as a medic-nin was unsurpassed as well. Now that Tsunade thought about it, Sakura was right. They haven't trained together for almost three months now. It had been a week since the last time she had actually seen Sakura outside of the hospital.

"How long do you plan to be gone if I let you go Sakura? Where would you go?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura thought for a minute before replying, "I want three years to train. It took me that long to become this strong training under you, so I will use the same amount of time to grow into whoever I am supposed to be. As to where, I don't know yet, probably a bunch of different places so that I get used to different terrain and have more exposure to the world."

"Sakura, you can't be serious." Shizune broke in. "You're the best medic in Konoha besides Lady Tsunade; you are invaluable at the hospital!"

"Thank you for the compliment Shizune. But I haven't gone on a mission in six months, and lately I haven't been needed for any major medical issues. Being trapped in the hospital is slowly driving me insane. I won't be gone forever. I just feel … like I'm standing still. Like life is passing my by and I can't do anything to stop it."

"But why be gone for so long? Surely just a vacation of a week or two would suffice? Maybe you are only stressed from working too hard." Shizune argued.

"Enough Shizune! I think Sakura is right." Tsunade paused as both Sakura and Shizune looked at her with shock. "Part of being the best is being able to grow, and Sakura is no longer doing that here, therefore, she will only be the best for a very short time, and then left behind as someone new surpasses her. Since I can no longer find the time to help, I believe that she can find what she is looking for while she is out there. True independence is something that Sakura hasn't had yet, and she will gain that as well as some needed experience on her journey."

"So this means you're giving me permission to go then Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked, her eyes shining with hope.

"Yes. As long as I get a report from you once a month, I will allow you to journey wherever you want go and train to your heart's content. If I go three months not hearing from you then you will be considered a missing-nin, so do you accept my terms Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes Tsunade! When can I leave?" Sakura asked, her excitement causing her to bounce on her feet like a kid. She hadn't really believed Tsunade would allow her to leave until now.

"You can leave tomorrow. It will be the first day of April, so it will be easier to keep up with how long you have been gone. Use the rest of your day to say goodbye to everyone and get ready for your journey. Meet me back here tomorrow morning at 8, understand?"

"Yes Tsunade-sama. Thank you so much for understanding." With that Sakura vanished with her trademark cherry blossom petals floating down where she stood just seconds ago.

"Lady Tsunade, do you really think it's wise to let Sakura leave by herself? What if something happens to her while she's gone? She could be captured, rapped, or killed! I really don't think you should let her go." Shizune spoke up after finally getting over her shock that Lady Tsunade would even agree to this.

"Shizune, sometimes, in order to grow you must learn from your mistakes. You must be able to stand up on your own two feet. I've taught Sakura almost everything I know, and she has grown to be an amazing young woman and almost my equal. However, although more confident than she used to be, she still doubts her abilities due to her lack of experience. I honestly think this will be good for her." Tsunade responded. Sighing she continued. "I'll miss her so much though. It's like my daughter has grown up and now she's leaving me." Tsunade said with a rare display of tears in her eyes that she held back.

"I'll go get the necessary paperwork then." Shizune said as she made her way to the door.

Tsunade looked out her window overseeing the village where the rain was still pouring down. "Please Sakura; please stay safe on this trip. I couldn't deal with losing a daughter too. You're about the only family I have left."


	2. Training Begins

'**Inner Sakura'**

'_thoughts' _

FINDING YOURSELF: Chapter 2 – The Training Begins

-One Week Later -

Sakura collapsed under a tree after running all day, sweat covering her body. The sun was still up, but for maybe only an hour or so.

"Damn. After being in the hospital all the time I'm freaking out of shape. No more strawberries and ice cream for me before bed." Sakura muttered.

'**Well if you weren't still depressed over that jerk Sasuke leaving then maybe you wouldn't be a glutton for comfort food that makes us look like cows!'**Inner Sakura announced while looking in a full-length mirror and crying at her over-exaggerated hips.

_'Whatever. Our hips are not that big. And I've forgotten all about Sasuke! I am not depressed, especially over that jerk. Now leave me alone. I have to get ready for camp.'_

'**Fine. Fine. Keep lying to yourself. I'll leave you alone for now to pout. But I'll be back!'** Inner Sakura threatened as she faded back into Sakura's mind.

_'Why did God hate me and give me an Inner? I would be perfectly happy on my own. Oh well, better find a place to crash before it gets dark.'_

Sakura slowly got up and dusted herself off. She heard what sounded like a river running close by, so she started heading towards it. As she came to a clearing she saw the river and a huge waterfall a little further along. She made her way towards the waterfall and started gathering firewood and setting up her tent.

"This should make a good training ground actually. I may stay here for a while. I need to work on my stamina, strength, speed, taijutsu, and medical knowledge. I guess I should start on strength and stamina. This waterfall will be great on my chakra-stamina that's for sure."

With that in mind, Sakura finished setting up camp and went towards the waterfall. She stripped down to her underwear, neatly placing her clothes on a nearby rock to keep dry. She jumped over to a rock right under the waterfall, the water beating down on her and easing the ache out of her muscles. She slowly focused her chakra in her feet, and started slowly walking up the waterfall. It was a lot harder than she thought it would be. Keeping her balance and focus after a hard day of running made this even more difficult with the fast pace water.

When she finally reached the top a few minutes later she was panting and would have been soaked in sweat again if the water hadn't washed it away. She stayed at the top a few minutes to catch her breath, then turned around and did a perfect swan dive into the pool below. She swam to shore and just laid there for a few minutes to relax.

'_The stars are so pretty tonight. I miss watching them'_ Sakura thought to herself, a pang going through her as she remembered all the missions her team used to take before Sasuke left. That was one of the last times she had actually taken the time to appreciate the stars, laying on her back surrounded by Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi. She had lost more than just Sasuke when he left.

When she caught her breath she got up and ate one of the rice cakes left in her backpack. She then put out the fire and went inside her tent to sleep.

-Next Morning-

Sakura got up early and came up with a training program. She had always been the weak one out of Team 7, always the first to get tired and always the weakest one in attacks. So she would start to fix that first. She had plenty of strength with her chakra, but was still weak physically - A problem that every kunoichi faced. And just how much she tired just getting here proved she had limited stamina.

So what was her plan? She would start by doing 1000 pushups, 1000 sit-ups, and run 1 mile down the river and back as many times as she could. Lee-san had given her a list of his workout, and if anyone knew how to work to the extremes, it was him. She ate another rice cake and then began.

After two and a half hours she finished the pushups, her arms were trembling and she was already starting to breathe hard. She took a short break and started on the sit-ups.

_'God I better get abs of steel after doing all of these. I can literally feel myself losing that ice cream by sweating it out of my pours.'_ Sakura thought as she reached sit-up number 400.

"**Come on Sakura! Work them abs. And one, and two, and three. GO! GO! GO! Make us look beautiful! Now we'll look awesome when we see Sasuke-kun again!"** Inner Sakura cheered on as she jumped up and down with pompoms in Sakura's head.

"Shut it you. I'm not doing this for Sasuke. I'm doing this for me. Now shut up before I lose count. 403, 404, 405, 406,…407,408…" Sakura huffed. She felt like her stomach was on fire, with a couple of katanas stabbing her just for fun as she continued her sit-ups.

"**Yeah, yeah, whatever. I was only trying to help. And you can't deny that you want Sasuke to see us after we get in perfect shape, even if only for spite. You may not be doing this for him, but him calling you weak and annoying all those years ago is one of your motivations. That and him and Naruto have always been in the spotlight, leaving you in the background. But you can continue denial for a little while anyway."**

"Damn, its bad enough I have to do this, but listening to you is going to kill me faster than Lee's workout will."

After another hour Sakura finally finished her sit-ups. She rested for thirty minutes before she got up and walked over to the river. Running on the river will help her increase stamina physically and with her chakra reserves.

She started off at a slow jog, to stretch her muscles, and slowly started gaining speed. She ignored the trembling in her arms and the sharp pains in her stomach as she focused on her breathing and the chakra in her feet.

She managed 10 miles before she almost collapsed and drowned, so she decided to stop for dinner. The sun was almost down so she started a fire and went fishing. After three getting away she was finally able to catch a decent sized fish, although she somehow managed to get soaked in the process.

She cleaned the fish and put it over the fire, washing her clothes as she waited for the fish to cook. She ate dinner and then repeated the waterfall exercise like she did last night. It took her about the same amount of time, but she knew that she would make progress soon. Barely managing to crawl into her tent, she immediately passed out when she made it to the top of her sleeping bag.


	3. A New Mission

FINDING YOURSELF – Chapter 3 – A New Mission

- One Year Later in Konoha -

_Lady Tsunade,_

_You would be so proud of me if you could see me now. I've finally become strong without having to rely solely on my chakra. No more pencil arms for me! And I haven't fallen in the water for months from my mile-long runs! I don't know if I should thank or strangle Lee for my workout. _

_I've gotten a lot stronger and my stamina is finally where I want it to be. I'm on the move again to find somewhere that'll help me improve my speed and taijutsu. I will probably head to some mountains that are about a few days run from here. I've also included a few of the plants I told you about last month that is good for reducing swelling and replenishing chakra. _

_I miss you so much; it gets lonely out here by yourself. Tell everyone I miss them and that I can't wait to see them in two years. Tell Naruto that when I get back I'll take him out for some Ramen. Hope everything is going good for the village and that you haven't been killed by the weight of your paperwork. I've also included the best bottle of sake the village close to me had. Talk to you again next month._

_Love, Sakura_

"So what did she say Lady Tsunade?" Shizune eagerly asked.

"She said she was moving to the mountains for some training with speed and taijutsu. That's a smart move. If she is where I think she is that mountain is very steep and has a lot of rockslides. That'll help on her speed by avoiding the rocks. She says she misses us all and will be back in two years." Tsunade responded still looking at the short letter. It had already been a year since Sakura left, and she missed her so much every day. She had saved all of the letters that Sakura sent, reading them over sometimes when she really missed her. Her letters described the waterfall and forest that she was staying at, and all the training she was putting herself through to get stronger. Some of what she could do now was almost beyond belief, but if Sakura was that determined she knows she could pull it off.

"Shizune, is Naruto back from training with Jiraiya yet?" Tsunade questioned.

"Yes my lady, he came back yesterday. He'll probably be around sometime this afternoon after he wakes up."

"Good, send a message to him saying I want to have a meeting with him in an hour about his next mission."

Shizune just nodded and grabbed a sheet a paper and started writing the orders on it.

An hour later Naruto burst through the door. "HEY GRANNY, DID YOU MISS ME?" he yelled as he jumped into the seat in front of her desk.

Tsunade's left eye was twitching, but she just cleared her throat and finished signing the millionth paper for that day. "Yes Naruto, I missed you like I would all of this paperwork on my desk. But that's not the point right now. I have your next mission set up, and I received a letter from Sakura today."

"Really? What did she say? Is she coming back soon? Did she mention me? And what's my new mission? Is it an S-ranked one?"

"Calm down Naruto." Tsunade ordered. "You know she won't be back for another two years. She's moving to the mountain region right now for some speed and taijutsu training. She said she would take you out for Ramen when she got back."

"YES! I've missed eating with Ramen Sakura. I wish she would come back sooner. I miss having her around. If I get Sasuke back she'll be mad that she wasn't here for it."

"Speaking of Sasuke that has to do with your next mission I'm giving you."

"Really? So what is the mission Granny Tsunade?"

Tsunade had to take a deep breath to keep from hitting Naruto before she continued. "Your mission is to find Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back to Konoha. My sources say he was able to kill Itachi, but that he was gravely injured. Your team will include Ino, Shikamaru, Shino, Chōji, Kiba, and Kakashi as team-leader. He should be able to give us information about Orochimaru's experiments, as well as what he has learned about Akatsuki. You will be given three months to train with a few missions in between, and then you will be sent to find him. There is nothing we can do for him right now, since he has disappeared after killing Itachi, but we need to bring him back alive. So do you accept this mission? Everyone else has already been briefed and has accepted." Tsunade said as she rested her head on her hands.

"So he finally finished one of his goals? He may come back on his own, because his second goal is to restore his clan, and he can't do that if the Uchiha clan is in disgrace with him as a missing-nin. I accept. I'll get pervy-sage to help train me. Since my other technique can't be used without a lot of harm to me I will just have to come up with another one, even better than the last. See you later Granny!" And with that Naruto ran out the door towards his beloved Ramen stand.

"That boy has no respect for me. I'm going to pulverize him one day. It scares me with him being the future Hokage sometimes, but he will make a great one. Maybe I should give him practice doing the paperwork. He'll probably love it as much as I do."

Shizune walked in and saw Tsunade cackling and holding her sides as she fell out of her chair. Shizune just shrugged her shoulders and walked over to her desk and began her paperwork that Tsunade had pawned off on her.


	4. New Friends

FINDING YOURSELF – Chapter 4 – New Friends

The mountains were gorgeous with the sun rising behind them. The sky had streaks of red, orange, and purple merging like a wild fire. The air was thinner up here, but her endurance training was paying off since she hardly noticed.

Sakura traveled up the mountain till she found a clearing that was next to the stream. She decided to set up camp and go find some food. After finishing the tasteless berries she found, Sakura figured it was time to start speed training.

She went a little ways away from her camp, deciding to go uphill so that with the thinner air it would work her body more. She thought back to some of the training she remembered Kakashi showing Sasuke. She rummaged through her backpack until she found the weights she had just bought from a village she passed on the way here. She had six sets, starting at 20lbs and the last ones weighing a staggering 150lbs. These would definitely help her with her speed exercises. She got the idea of weights obviously from Lee.

Sakura attached her weights to her legs and arms and then started her daily stretches. She focused on exercises that required fast movements, trying to imitate many of the moves she had seen Kakashi perform years ago. Although she now had great stamina she started to fill a little fatigued due to the thin atmosphere and using muscles that weren't really used in her stamina and strength exercises.

When she finished the exercises she sprinted the last 3 miles to the top of the peak. It was midday by now, so she could see for miles around the mountain peak. Down south about a half a day's run away was the small village where she stopped to refill all of her supplies before she came here. To the north of her was the desert that made Suna so hard to live in. she could just make out what looked like some ruins at the edge of the horizon, but wasn't sure. To the west was more forest, and to the East was the rest of the mountain range.

Since she caught her breath again, Sakura decided to race up and down the mountainsides till dinner time. Making sure that her weights on her arms and legs were secure, she started sprinting down the hill on the East side towards the second mountain.

The next morning, after breakfast Sakura repeated all of her drills that she did the day before, and finished with thirty minutes earlier than yesterday. So she decided to add another drill. She went to the stream next to camp and walked to the center. She sprinted 100 yards, and then jogged 50, then sprinted 150 yards again while going uphill. She then turned around and repeated the steps heading back towards camp. She repeated this four more times till all of her muscles were trembling, then decided to eat dinner and crash for the night.

This kind of training went on for a month every day, getting more intense with new exercises added every other day. She finally took her much needed break, which has become her habit over the last year. On the last day of every month she would take a break and write the necessary letter to Tsunade to update her on what she's done and to assure her that she was still alive. After writing a nice long letter, Sakura called for the messenger hawk that Lady Tsunade gave her and with a few hand signs the letter turned into a collar. She attached it around the hawk's neck.

"Take this to Lady Tsunade for me please. Have a safe journey and see you next week Chichi." Sakura said as she watched Chichi take off.

Sakura then headed over to the hot springs that she had found earlier. She had been so busy training that she hadn't had time to enjoy them yet. They were secluded behind a cluster of trees, with steam coming off of the hot water calling Sakura's name. She quickly shed off all of her dirty clothes that clung to her and glided into the water. She grabbed her shampoo and started lathering her hair, which had started to get long again, ending at the middle of her back. She dunked her hair under the water and then twisted it to rinse it out. Grabbing her soap she started to wash away all the dust and sweat she had got from training. The hot water was working miracles on her tired and sore muscles, so after she finished she simple found a rock that was submerged underwater and sat on it so she could enjoy the heavenly water.

After soaking for another thirty minutes, Sakura got dressed in some clean clothes, and started making her way back to camp. Making a mental list of the supplies she would need to restock soon, Sakura was dragged out of her musings when she heard a male voice yelling.

"The mother's pelt will bring a fortune! And these two cubs will keep all of us in a rich retirement boys. I told you our luck was turning!" Sakura head some guy talking and noticed a small stream of smoke coming about half a mile away, obviously from a camp fire. She stealthily made her way towards their camp as she continued to listen to the conversation.

"You were right boss. These two cubs are gonna bring a good price, I just wished they were full grown. An adult one is worth a lot more than a baby."

"Shut up Jinji. A lot of those rich folks like getting these cubs. You can train them and make them into pets. You just got to know who to sell 'em to. "

By this time Sakura was close enough to see the group of four bandits at the small campsite. One was working on dinner, while one was up in a tree doing a lousy job of being a look out. The other two were in front of a cage that looked like it had two black kittens in it. Next to the cage was a large black panther, which Sakura concluded was the dead mother of the two kittens. She clenched her fists in anger as she quickly understood the situation, and decided how to attack. It was time to see if some of her training was paying off, and try out some of her strategies.

Sakura performed a few hand signs and slowly turned invisible with her genjutsu. She jumped up to the branch above the look out's, the branch remaining steady she landed so lightly. Sakura slowly pulled out her kunai and when her legs had a firm grip on the tree branch she started to slowly move to where she was upside down right above the idiot. In one fluid motion she covered the guy's mouth with one hand and slit his throat with the other, killing him instantly without a sound. When she was sure he was dead she removed her hand and quickly placed him back against the tree so that he would look like he was still sleeping and wouldn't fall.

She shimmied back down the tree and started thinking about how to take out the rest. The two in front of the kittens' cage seemed to be the strongest, so Sakura decided that taking out the one cooking first would be the sensible thing to do. She would just have to be patient and wait until they separated.

After twenty minutes of being completely still, Sakura was about to become aggravated when one of the guys finally got up saying he had to go relieve himself. Sakura just grinned. _'This will be the last time you will ever do anything jerk.'_

She quietly stalked her prey until he stepped behind a tree. She waited until he was done, and as he started making his way back to camp she made her move. She quickly jumped out from the tree she was hiding behind and with lightning movements hit the pressure point on the guy's neck, knocking him out within two seconds. She then stabbed him in the heart with her kunai. Pulling her bloody kunai out she wiped it off on his shirt. Sakura then went back towards the camp.

The other two were still oblivious that two of their comrades were no longer among the living. This would be too easy. She decided that two against one was good odds, so stealth wasn't a factor now. Although she could have easily taken all four out at once in the beginning, but what was the fun in that? She slowly released her jutsu to reveal herself and boldly walked into the camp. She deliberately made her steps heavy to get the attention of the two baboons in front of her. One of them turned around and a look of surprise filled his eyes to see the beautiful pink haired girl instead of his friend standing by the fire.

"Now why is a cute think such as yourself doing here little girl? Did you get lost while going to your Grandmother's?" he asked as him and his partner turned around towards her.

Sakura just laughed before she sweetly answered. "So would that make you the big bad wolf come to get me? Sorry I don't have anything sweet to give you."

Both men stood up and started walking towards her trying to look intimidating. The guys mistakenly took the gleam in her eyes as fear, and both of their bodies tensed in anticipation as they both had perverted thoughts of what they could do with a girl way out here by herself in the woods.

"Let me ask you guys something. Do you want it to be quick or slow?" She asked as she started walking towards them, making sure to add a seductive sway to her hips. She batted her eyelashes for the full effect. Ino would be so proud of her.

At this point both men started to have uncomfortably tight pants, and the leader answered "we'll start off quick to get the edge of darling, then maybe slower later." They obviously thought her remark was her consent to have sex with them.

Sakura just smirked as she went up to him. She slowly ran one of her hands up his chest, with a fake look of embarrassment and shyness, remembering to add a slight blush to her cheeks. As he began to try and put his hands on her hips, Sakura clenched the kunai she had hidden in her free hand and quickly sliced it upwards across his chest and throat. The blood sprayed across her face and chest, as he slowly collapsed with a look of horror forever etched on his dying face.

"Too bad there isn't a later" Sakura stated as she quickly turned to her final opponent.

"YOU BITCH!" he cried as he pulled out his sword and charged her. Sakura didn't move, just calmly waited for him to get close. Right before his sword was about to go through her heart, Sakura simply disappeared.

"You're gonna have to be faster than that if you want to hit me" She taunted as she used her kunai to make a small cut at the back of his neck. He whirled around but she wasn't there.

"Come out here you whore! How dare you think you can mess with us! You don't know who you're dealing with!" He yelled as he franticly searched for her chakra signal.

"Mess with you? Now why would I ever want to do that?" She asked as she leaned against a tree. He threw a kunai at Sakura, hitting her dead in the heart. He smirked until the clone disappeared with a puff of smoke.

"You're starting to bore me. I guess it's time to finish it." Sakura yawned as she made her move. She came up through the ground right under him and with one chakra-filled-punch to the chest completely shattered the inside of his body. With blood pouring out of his mouth, he too collapsed on the ground dead.

Sakura then quickly gathered the bodies and yelled "Fire release: Great Fireball Technique" while doing the required hand signs and a huge ball of fire came out of her mouth to incinerate the bodies. She then used her chakra and punched a hole in the ground big enough to bury the deceased panther, giving her a proper burial. She gingerly placed her within the hole, and covered her up with some dirt and put a few rocks on top of the grave to mark it. Sakura then methodically destroyed the rest of the camp, leaving nothing there but the cage with the kittens and the fish that the bandits had cooked. After washing off all of the blood on her at the nearby stream, Sakura slowly made her way towards the kittens.

They were solid black with wide golden eyes looking at her. They both were crying out and the sorrowful sound was pulling at Sakura's heart strings. She bent down and unlocked the cage, slowly pulling the door open. The two kittens stayed on the other end trembling while both stared at her. She pinched off two small pieces of the fish and placed them at the middle of the cage, and then sat back to wait. After a few minutes, one of the kittens slowly made their way towards the fish, with the other one cautiously following. The two sniffed the fish before they started nibbling on it.

"It's okay you two. I won't let anything happen to you now." Sakura assured as she watched them. When they finished eating the small pieces of fish she placed another two small bites at the edge of the cage.

The kittens started to make their way towards the fish, although still watching Sakura warily the whole time. Their hunger was greater than their fear though, so they went closer to the stranger that was feeding them. After Sakura finally finished giving them the fish, the leader of the two made its way towards Sakura.

Sakura gently placed her hand out, and waited for the black bundle of fur to make its way towards her. As it reached her hand, it slowly sniffed it and then tenderly a small pink tongue stuck out to lick the juices of the fish off of her fingers. Seeing what its sibling was doing, the other kitten quickly made its way towards Sakura's other hand to do the same thing.

When they finished cleaning her hands Sakura gently started to pet the two. They both gently nudged her hand and crawled up into her lap. She rubbed both of them until they fell asleep. Gently Sakura placed both of them inside her backpack, careful not to wake them up. She then finished cleaning up the camp, grabbed her bag, and slowly started making her way towards camp with her two new friends in tow.


	5. Hidden Talents

FINDING YOURSELF – Chapter 5 – Hidden Talents

The next morning Sakura went to the river and caught two fish for the kittens, and had just finished cooking them when they began to wake up. The more adventurous one of the two waddled over to Sakura and sat next to her and watched her take the fish off the sticks. Sakura placed the fish on a plate and started to tear them into small bites. The second kitten made its way over to Sakura and sat down next to its sibling, hungrily eyeing the fish.

"Glad to see you two are up and about. I can see you're hungry too. Well you're just going to have to wait till the fish cools off before you can eat it. Let's get some water while we wait." Sakura picked both up under their stomachs and started walking towards the stream. She put them both down a foot away from the water.

They both waddled over and began drinking. One of them slipped and fell in when he tried to get closer to the water. Sakura laughed as she reached over and pulled the kitten out. It shook out its fur and then glared at the water. The other, drier, kitten walked over to Sakura and primly sat down.

"I'm going to have to name both of you since I don't think you would like Thing 1 and Thing 2. So how about you be called Feng since you're the male and adventurous one of the bunch? And you little one will be called Charna. How does that sound?"

Feng rubbed up against Sakura's leg getting her wet, and Charna licked her hand showing her approval.

"I guess you two are very smart. At least I won't be as lonely anymore. Alright, let's head back to camp to feed you two."

Sakura got up and picked Feng and Charna up. When they made it to camp, the fish were cool enough to finally eat. They both squirmed until Sakura put them down, and they waddled over to their food and started chowing down. Sakura just laughed and went over to her bag and grabbed one of her rice cakes she still had. She noticed she was about to get low and made a mental note to go to the village soon.

"Now what am I going to do with you two while I train? I can't just leave you here, an animal may come by and get you, and I can't trust you two to stay put anyway." Sakura went over and grabbed her bag, turning it upside down and dumping everything out. She then grabbed her sleeping bag and rolled it up. Placing it inside the backpack, she grabbed Feng and Charna and put them inside.

"Guess I'll just have to take you along. Now don't puke or do anything inside my bag, or you shall see my very _very_ evil side ok? I could use an extra set of gloves." she said with a huge smile on her face. The two kittens looked at her with a kind of horror, and then she closed the flap so that they were secure inside.

Sakura started her regular training like she usually did, but she made extra sure that she didn't shake the kittens up too bad. She just looked at it as another exercise to control her movements and make sure her balance is good. After about four hours of running, she decided to take a break and take care of the cats.

When she opened her backpack, Charna was asleep, while Feng immediately tried climbing out, nipping Sakura's hand as she tried to grab him.

"Dammit! Alright you, you asked for it!" She hissed back as she reached over and grabbed the escaping kitten by the scruff of his neck and brought it up to her face. Feng just glared at her, reminding her of a sulking child. She felt a small pang in her chest, since he reminded her of Sasuke and how he used to pout, but she just shrugged it off.

"Now listen here. I saved you, so therefore you should be nice to me. That means no biting, scratching, spitting, glaring, or anything else you decide to do during your temper tantrum." At this Feng gave her a sad look with huge watery eyes, the perfect picture of innocence.

Sakura just sighed and rolled her eyes. "I can already tell you're going to be a handful. I was always a sucker for cute eyes. Alright, you get a pass this one time, but next time your punishment will be no fish, and a bath. Understand?" Feng just solemnly nodded his head and started squirming to be put down. Sakura left both of them for a minute to get them some food. After finishing taking care of them, she put them back in her backpack and spent the rest of the day training.

That night, Sakura was lying on her side next to the fire playing with Charna with a piece of string. She dragged it across the ground and would stop, watching Charna tense up her muscles and coil up, getting ready to pounce. Sakura would wait till the last second, and then move the string right when her claw would barely touch it.

Feng just laid a few feet from his sister and lazily watched her and his new master playing. A leaf flew by him and landed on his paw. He moved his paw and it fell over. Focusing on it, his golden eyes started to turn into an ice blue, and a small breeze came and captured the leaf. The leaf spiraled up, and then went over and landed on top of Charna. Feng blinked and his eyes slowly turned back to their original golden color.

Sakura turned and looked at him. She felt the slight flare of chakra, and was surprised that the source seemed to be Feng. She slowly sat up as she faced him.

"Can you do that again Feng?" she asked picking the leaf up off of Charna and placing it in front of Feng again. His tail flicked, and then his eyes turned blue again as a breeze caught the leaf again and swirled around Sakura, landing in her hair.

"That's awesome! I haven't seen any animals besides Akamaru be able to use chakra. Can you do anything like that Charna?" Sakura asked excitedly.

Charna walked towards Sakura after hearing her name called, and her eyes started to turn blue as the water in Sakura's canteen close by started to leak out. At first it was a few drops, and then a small stream came out and created a small ball levitating a few inches off the ground. It then collapsed after a few seconds, and her eyes turned to gold again.

"Well now, you two may just be good for something other than just company. In a couple of weeks you two will be big enough to start doing some training, and we should see how well you do. Maybe give Kiba and Akamaru a run for their money. So how about it? Do you two want to be my fighting partners?"

Feng and Charna just rubbed against her legs and laid down at her feet, showing their approval.


	6. Finding An Old Friend

FINDING YOURSELF – Chapter 6 – Finding an Old Friend

_He hid behind the tree, watching her swim around in the stream a short distance from him. With his chakra masked, he was certain she didn't know he was there. She always was the weakest one in the group, but he was still surprised that she had let her guard down this much to not be aware of a disturbance around her. _

_She swam to the edge of the water, and grabbed some soap. She started washing herself off, and he had to swallow the lump that suddenly appeared in his throat that made breathing a little more difficult. His eyes followed the path of the water drops sliding down in between her breasts to her stomach and gliding lower to disappear in between her legs. He fully appreciated the way her body had matured over the years. A perfect hour-glass figure, with her long pink hair shielding part of her body as it was wrapped around her. _

_She flipped her hair back, and he decided it was time to have some fun. He slowly started to strip, folding all of his clothes and hiding them behind the tree. He then disappeared, reappearing behind her, so quick and smooth that not even a ripple in the water appeared to give away his presence. He then slowly gripped her curvy hips and nipped behind her ear, enjoying her startled squeak._

_"You should be more aware of your surroundings," he whispered as she jumped from the contact with him. She whirled around, her hair fanning out and then sticking to her face. Since he still had a hold on her when she turned it just brought her even closer to him. Now her ample breasts were plastered to his well toned chest, and she had to strain away from him to keep her lower body from touching him._

_"What are you doing here?" she hissed, trying to escape his grip. He just stayed still - watching her struggle, tightening his grip on her so she couldn't get effort was driving him crazy though, her body squirming against him in a very suggestive way. _

_He bent his head towards her, nuzzling below her left ear before his gave it a small lick and kissed her. "What's the matter? I thought you would be happy to see me. Isn't this what you always wanted Sa-ku-ra?" he whispered to her. _

_With that she started to struggle harder. _

_"Let me go!" she hissed at him, her eyes shaped into slits as she glared at him. _

_He just laughed and pulled her body flush with his, smirking at her wasted effort. Her eyes grew wide as she felt his erection pressing against her, and she froze in shock when he leaned down and kissed her lips, taking advantage of her momentarily stunned surprise. He traced her bottom lip with his tongue, nipping on it to try and get her to open up. Sasuke put more effort into it when she resisted. He slid his right hand up her stomach, grabbing her breast and squeezing it, while his other hand grabbed her ass. Sakura gasped and that was what he was waiting for. His tongue slid in, and started dancing with hers._

_After a valiant struggle, Sakura begrudgingly relaxed into his embrace, and hesitantly returned his kiss. Her tongue was shy as she started the dance that seemed so natural to them. She tasted like ambrosia, quickly becoming an addiction he wasn't expecting. She teasingly slid her hands up his stomach, outlining his abs with her fingers, gliding over his chest and tangling her fingers in his hair to pull him closer to her. She then slid her right leg over his narrow hip and started slowly grinding on him. He barely kept a moan in check from her efforts. _

_He slid his mouth down her jaw, gliding down her neck to suck on the area where her neck and shoulder met. He grabbed her and picked her up, wrapping her other leg around him. After leaving his mark on her neck, he leaned her back against the cage of his arms and started kissing his way towards her chest. He licked towards her nipple, tracing little figure eights patterns over it before nipping at her. Sakura started moaning and arched her back to give him better access. He blew cool air on her to watch her nipple bead up, and continued to tease her, switching back and forth to both sides. _

_He placed one of his hands in between her legs, and smirked when he felt how wet she was. Her moisture was practically sliding down her tone legs. He traced the edges of her core, coating her and his fingers with her own juices. He slipped one long finger inside of her, slowly pushing in and out until she began to pick up his rhythm. When she started to get used to it, he put two fingers inside her. _

_"Do you want me Sa-ku-ra?" he whispered tauntingly, his breath becoming labored like her from his excitement and arousal. Her eyes were glazed over now, and she was panting against his shoulder. Fine tremors went down her back as her hips kept rising to meet his fingers._

_When she shook her head in a negative, he smirked again and grabbed her hand, pulling it down to wrap it around himself. He guided her small soft hands to start pumping him, and groaned when she started doing it by herself. After a few minutes of teasing each other he couldn't stand it anymore and pulled her hand away. He devoured her lips as he placed himself at her core. He gently started to enter her, watching as her half-closed eyes started to widen again as she was stretched. Her nails dug into his back, and he shuddered as her wet heat started to surround felt like his body was being dipped into liquid fire, and he lost his breath as drove home in one powerful stroke. _

Sasuke woke up a gasp, his breathing labored and sweat pouring off of his body. His whole body was trembling and he felt like he was about ready to explode.

He looked around and realized it was nothing but a dream - again; he was still at his camp with team Hebi. Sasuke could almost still feel Sakura's heat, her nails in his back, hear her panting by his ear. Every time he dreamed of her, it was harder to tell the difference between reality and dream. Her smell lingered on his skin, he swore he felt the burn from the scratches of her nail, and his body screamed at being denied what was his.

'Dammit, what the hell is wrong with me? Why do I keep having these dreams?' he thought angrily.

He got up and walked over to the nearby stream. He bent down and splashed some water into his face to help cool him off. It had been about six months since he had killed Itachi, but he still hadn't returned to Konoha yet. The truth was that he wasn't sure he could face Naruto and Sakura yet after all he had done to them the last few years. Especially Sakura after the dreams he's been having about her lately. If he kept this up he would scare her by jumping her first chance he got. That was definitely a switch from the last time he saw her, where _she_was hanging on to _him_all the time. Maybe he just really needed to get laid.

With a disgusted sigh he stood up and headed back to camp. He might as well take over guard duty since he doubted he would get anymore sleep tonight. Karin was on duty now, and he prepared himself for her aggravating assault when he saw her.

"Oh Sasuke-kun, your awake! Did you come just to keep me company? That's so sweet of you." She gushed, with hearts in her eyes as she started to blush. He could see the fantasy world she lived in show through her eyes.

'Finally Sasuke-kun could show his true feelings towards me now that we are alone. A romantic fire, clear starlit sky, it was her dream come true!' Karin thought to herself as she watched Sasuke slowly walk towards her.

Sasuke just gave Karin a blank look as she was blushing and had her hands on her cheek with a glazed expression.

"Hn. Go get some sleep Karin, I'll take over guard duty now." He laid down in front of a log by the fire, propping up against it and started staring in the fire.

Karin got up and walked over to him, and then she quickly knelt down and tried to snuggle up to him. "How about I just sleep next to you Sasuke-kun? You'll be warmer than my sleeping bag anyways." she tried to seductively whisper to him.

"Karin, get the fuck off me and go into your tent and sleep. Now." Sasuke responded harshly, shoving her forcefully off of him.

"But, but, Sasuke-kun, I want to stay out here with you" she whined.

Sasuke just glared at her, and with a disgusting pout on her face (although she thought it made her look sexy) she made her way towards her tent. Sasuke ignored her departure, and lost himself in thoughts about his old teammates, and wondered again what they were doing right now.

-XXX-

Early the next morning Sasuke felt it. Naruto's chakra was heading his way, about five miles away from where their camp was. He could also sense a few more chakra signatures, so he figured it was most of the Rookie 9 team by the amount.

'Hmm. So dobe is close by. This may be a sign that its time I finally went home. I want to be a part of the village when I finally restore my clan, so coming willingly would be the best way to go back.'

He turned back towards the fire where his current team was cooking breakfast. Jugo was silent off to the side while Karin and Suigetsu were arguing over something or another. They really could be so immature sometimes.

"Alright guys, listen up." He began, waiting until he had all of their attention before he continued.

"A group of Leaf shinobi are headed this way, more than likely on a mission to find and capture me. Since I have no need anymore to stay away from my homeland, I'll be going back with them without a fight. You can either come with me or go your own way before they get here, your choice." he finished.

Everyone looked over at him silently, trying to understand what he said. After a few minutes of silence, they each gave their answer.

"Well of course I'm going with you Sasuke-kun, I have to help you restore your clan!" Karin said, quickly moving to gather her supplies to join him.

"I heard that the Hokage there was the best medic there is, so I'll go see if she can help me with my curse seal." Jugo calmly replied.

"Well guess this is the end of the ride for me with everyone. I want to still get all of the swords, so I'll be leaving. This was getting kind of old anyways. Hope everything works out for you Sasuke. And Karin, you're an ugly whore and I'm glad I will never have to see you again. Later." And with that Suigetsu gave everyone a short wave, grabbed his stuff, and disappeared with a little puff of smoke.

As soon as the group finished cleaning up camp, they gathered up the rest of their supplies and headed towards the incoming chakra signals. Naruto finally met up with them ten minutes later.

"TEME!" Naruto yelled as he jumped down from the tree and landed a few feet in front of Sasuke.

"What dobe?" Sasuke replied nonchalantly, enjoying the crossed look on Naruto's face at his lack of emotion. Some people never really change.

"Are you ready to come home yet or not? I'm dragging your ass back to Konoha reguardless." Naruto finally said, a note of confidence from experience that hadn't been there during the many encounters before.

"Hn."

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO MY SASUKE-KUN LIKE THAT! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Karin yelled as she stepped from behind Sasuke and prepared to attack the freak wearing orange for insulting her Sasuke-kun.

"Karin, stop. We aren't here to fight remember? Besides we don't want to start Jugo up." Karin blushed at being reprimanded in front of a crowd by Sasuke, and quieted down quickly before stepping back again.

Sasuke paused for a minute and then looked back at the group of ninjas in front of him. Most of Rookie 9 was here, except…

"Hey dobe, where's Sakura? She finally grow up and decide to leave me alone?" he asked with no emotion, although he was hoping that the second part wasn't the case. Otherwise it would be hard to see if she could live up to his dreams.

"Pssh, Like you care Sasuke. You haven't cared about Sakura for the last few years after you left, now all of the sudden you want to know where she is? You don't deserve to know." Ino quickly replied, giving a smug smirk towards him until he gave her his famous "do-I-look-like-I-give-a-damn?" look. In response she just rolled her eyes and looked back towards Naruto.

Naruto sighed before replying. "It doesn't matter, she's not here. But that's beside the point. Lady Tsunade has ordered us to bring you back to Konoha, so are you coming peacefully or am I gonna have to kick your ass and drag you back? You still owe me a good fight."

"Hn. Whatever. I was about to head there anyways, so I might as well go along with you. My two teammates are coming along with me though. Think you can handle that dobe?" he taunted.

"Yeah, yeah. Just come on, we've been searching for your ass for a few weeks now, I'm ready to get back home if it's all the same to you. Ino tossed out my supply of Ramen and I've been starving on this trip for the last week!" Naruto whined, slinging his arm around an annoyed looking Sasuke as they started making their way towards the direction of Konoha.

"We came all this way and did all this work expecting a battle, and after a few sentences he agrees. How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed. The rest of the group agreed for once. They were wary of their good fortune. Nothing ever went this simple for them on missions.

Regardless, the two groups headed off towards Konoha together.


	7. Akasde

'blah' **is a thought/telepathic speaking **

"blah" **is normal talking**

"**blah" is inner Sakura**

The speed training was starting to pay off, but Sakura was more concerned with figuring out how to train Feng and Charna. They were almost full grown now, and they could both be major assets in a fight. But Sakura felt kind of at a lost. She could train them some from what little she had watched Kiba, but she didn't know everything, definitely not enough to have them reach their full potential.

One of the best things though is that a few weeks after she found them both - they started talking! So that definitely helped, although sometimes having a cat tell you that you did something wrong is just a little humiliating, especially when you are the one supposedly teaching them. They both had a warped sense of humor.

Sakura had been on the mountain for almost 9 months now, and didn't know if she was going to leave in a few more months or not. She just wished she had someone who could guide them into the best direction.

"Alright you two, quit goofing off and lets do a brief practice." She yelled out towards them. Feng and Charna quit wrestling each other and padded over towards Sakura.

"How do you want to train today Saki?" Charna asked. Sakura put her finger under her chin as she thought for a minute. "How does a clone sound to you today? We'll do two against two."

"Alright, I'll take the clone so that it'll be at least somewhat of a challenge for me." Feng said as Sakura created her shadow clone and put on her gloves. "And just what is that suppose to mean Feng?" Charna growled at her brother.

"Simple. You're a girl, so therefore not as strong as me, so having the real Sakura should even it out just a little with me only having a clone." Feng huffed as he and the Sakura clone walked over to the other side of their practice field.

"Why you dirty low down -"

"That's enough Charna. We can show him that you are just as good as he is. Now come on." Sakura instructed as Charna followed her to their side of the field to begin.

'I'll show that egotistical brother of mine that I'm just as good as he is!' Charna thought as she prepared to fight.

Sakura and Charna closed their eyes and focused on their chakra. Each felt for the other and synchronized their flow pattern, so that they would be able to communicate and act faster with each other during battle. It was a very useful technique used between them all that had been practiced relentlessly to perfect.

When everyone was ready all four disappeared and began their attack sequences. Only the most seasoned shinobi would have been able to see all of their movements. Sparks appeared randomly in the field, with the images of Sakura or one of the panthers showing for a split second as they clashed. Charna sent a mini tidal wave towards Feng, and used it as a screen as she jumped over it to try and attack him from the air. He quickly used the wind to cut the wave in half, exposing Charna's hiding spot and dodging her attack, avoiding the small crater created where she landed. Sakura had taught both of them how to use their chakra to have super strength like her and her previous mentor.

When Feng came up behind and was about to attack Charna, Sakura appeared and with a well aimed punch, hit him over towards her clone, hitting them both and sending them through a few trees.

This continued on for another twenty minutes at full speed, till Sakura finally called it quits.

"Awesome job you two. Good work." Sakura praised as she headed towards the spring to get some water. The two quietly followed her, both slightly breathing hard from the fight.

As Sakura was bending down to scoop up some water, she felt something lightly touch the back of her head. She froze as she quickly tried to feel the person's chakra. She couldn't hear or sense anything, but she knew that someone had a weapon against her. Charna and Feng felt her tension and turned towards her, growling at the cloaked figure standing behind her. Neither could figure out how he just appeared and none of them sensed him. There had been no warning whatsoever.

"You can turn around now." A quiet raspy male voice spoke as the weapon was pulled away. Sakura slowly turned around and stood up. She came up to right under the man's chin, and even though it was broad daylight and she was only two feet away, Sakura couldn't make out any of his facial features.

"Who are you?" she asked as she put a hand on top of Feng and Charna's head where they had walked up next to her, each glaring at the man.

"You have a weak defense. You should be able to sense someone even if they can hide their chakra signal. Your two cubs also need training for that too."

"That's not what I asked. Who are you and what are you doing out here?" Sakura responded, her temper starting to show.

"Such disrespect. When someone tells you something, you should listen little girl. It may just save your life one day." Sakura bristled at being called little girl, and had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't explode on the guy. Whoever he was - he was good, because Sakura still couldn't feel any chakra from him, and she didn't see any weapon that he could have used on her from earlier.

After a small pause he continued. "I have been watching you for the last few months, and I have decided that in order for you to truly grow, I shall have to teach you."

"Why would you want to do that? I'm doing just fine on my own. I don't need anyone's help and I don't want it. Now for the last time, who ARE YOU?"

He stood there for a minute, not making any noise, but Sakura knew he was staring at her because she could feel the intensity of his gaze on her. It almost felt like he was searching inside her soul.

"I have watched you and discovered that you seem to be a pretty caring and genuine person. You have a lot of determination, you just need some direction. I have lived a long life, and have not passed on any of my techniques to anyone. So I have come to the conclusion that you would make a worthy candidate to be my apprentice. My name is Akasde Geohan. And yes, I already know you have been personally trained by Tsunade, but you have much more potential to go even farther, one that has been untapped. If you truly wish to surpass her and everyone's expectations, you will rightfully accept my offer."

Sakura quietly stared at him as her thoughts flew through her head. He obviously knew what she was capable of if he knew all that and watched her the past few months. And wasn't she just thinking she needed help. She knew he didn't want to kill her, because he could have done that at the very beginning, and that was what hurt the most. All of this damn training and an old man could simple appear behind her and could have killed her so easily right then and there. It was frustrating to say the least.

She glanced over to Feng. 'What do you think? Do you smell anything from him that indicates he is a threat to us?' She asked telepathically. Another talent they had developed between the three of them about two months ago. Definitely an invaluable asset when you needed to communicate with someone and stealth was required. Feng deeply inhaled, making sure to get a strong scent reading from Akasde, and then responded. 'He doesn't have anything threatening coming off of him, but I can smell the power rolling off of him. He would make a worthy sensei for us.' He wisely stated. Charna also nodded her head in agreement with her brother's statement.

"Alright, I guess I can obviously use the help. Thank you very much for your kind offer Akasde-sensei - I humbly accept your offer." She stated as she bowed to him. After her bow he reached up and slowly pulled off his hood.

He looked to be in his forties, a phenomenon for a ninja to live that long. He had short dark gray hair that matched his scruffy eyebrows. He had brown eyes, and with a deep look you could tell that they were very sharp and didn't miss anything. You could also see the shadowed look that came from seeing things in your life that no one should ever have to see. His skin was tanned, with small wrinkles around his mouth and eyes. He was wearing a black kimono robe, with two small gold suns on the shoulders. He wore black pants and a belt, with black ninja sandals on as well. On his belt there was a sun emblem on it matching the others. Although you could tell that he had passed his prime and was slowly going downhill from there, he still looked like a formidable opponent. Sakura was surprised to find that he carried a walking stick with him, that had characters inscribed in it that seemed to strengthen it. That must have been the weapon he used to make her aware of his presence.

"Very well. Gather all of your supplies and prepare to leave." And with that the small group started walking towards camp. Sakura quickly packed up her weapons, food, and clothes, while the two cats put dirt on the fire. After about ten minutes the camp was cleared and you couldn't tell that anyone had been there at all, much less for months. Sakura put her bag on her back, and turned towards her new sensei. Without a word he turned and headed down the mountain, Sakura and the cats quietly following behind him.

The place Akasde took them was a small shrine hidden at the bottom of the mountain. Two lion statues rested on both sides of the stone path leading up to the shrine. It was a small grey building that had two big double doors, and surprisingly elegant windows on each side, taking up the entire front of it. The roof was a slightly darker grey, with groves running over the top of it and ending in points. It was a simple shrine compared to the Uchiha and Hyuuga ones, but was still nice, especially to be in the middle of nowhere.

"I'll show you your room where you can stay, and then we shall begin your training." Akasde stated.

They walked down a narrow hallway to a small room at the end of it. It had a small bed and dresser in the room. The only decoration was a small mirror above the dresser, otherwise it was bare. To Sakura, who had been sleeping on the ground for the last year and a half, this was heaven. A BED! She was finally going to be able to sleep on a bed! YES!Sakura dropped all of her supplies in the corner, and grabbed her gloves and weapons and followed Akasde outside.

"Alright, first thing first. If I'm not mistaken you have an inner correct?" Sakura's jaw just dropped as she stared at him. "How did you know that?" she asked, a small tremor in her voice. People she had lived with all her life didn't know she had an Inner personality, so it spooked her that Akasde was able to figure it out.

"I have my ways. But the reason I ask is very important. One of the main things about power that many forget or ignore is balance. Too much of one thing is bad, no matter what it is. For example, too much sun dries up everything and creates a desert, while total darkness everything would slowly starve and die due to lack of sunlight. It's the whole concept of feast and famine. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" he asked with a small smile.

"Uh…I think so. Everything has to be in balance to run properly. You can't have true power if you only focus on the narrow-minded stuff right?" Sakura guessed.

"Correct. The point of this is that you have always fought your inner, and while you two balance each other out to a certain point, since she is inside you and can't do anything, you overshadow her. Therefore I propose a jutsu I discovered many years ago. It combines two minds within one person so that they are joined. This will help you gain some of the confidence you lack, as well as give you access to your full strength that has always been locked inside of you."

"So wait, you mean that inner Sakura has some of my strength? And if we combine then I won't be me anymore? I don't know about this. What if she somehow overpowers me? Then what?"

"**Duh dummy! I am way stronger than you. I always told you I was your better half. If he combines us then I can finally have control. Mwahahahaha!"** Inner Sakura cackled as she rolled around in the imaginary floor in Sakura's head.

"You won't be overpowered, and you will still be you. Combining the two of you will give you full access to yourself. You are part of the same whole, but were one of the few whose soul got split at birth. All I will do is sewing the pieces back together." He explained as he motioned her to come to him. "Alright now, this may hurt a little bit, so it will probably be better if you get down on your knees or sit down, whichever is more comfortable for you."

Sakura got down on the ground and sat cross-legged, and prepared herself by taking deep breaths. Akasde placed both hands on her forehead, and a red glow started around the edges of his hands. "Mind-seal jutsu!" He yelled, and the glow turned into a blinding light, and Sakura screamed as it felt like fire was going through her head, igniting all of the cells within her. Inner Sakura was also screaming, each fighting the pain, and fighting the merge. Slowly the pain became too much and each passed out, darkness creeping in to block out the burning agony. The last thing Sakura heard was the sound of angry cries from Charna and Feng coming towards her as she welcomed the peaceful darkness.


	8. The last year

**Hey guys, sorry about the long time between updates. I'll try and work on that. Hope you like this new chapter. Please review, I always smile when I get a new one. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto characters or anything else but my plot. **

Combining with my inner was definitely a turning point for me. I never realized that I had almost double the chakra reserves now that I had full access to it, and I became stronger and faster. It was like having two life-times worth of training combined. Let me say I was very grateful to take at least one easy way to gain strength. Otherwise, I would be dead now with my new training. And I also didn't have to listen to that annoying inner me anymore, so that was a great stress reliever. Now I only have two voices in my head, and I can hit them if Charna or Feng get too obnoxious.

The training Akasde put me through was pure hell. What Kakashi and Tsunade put me through was nothing more than child's play compared to this. The only respite was sleep, which is when I collapsed onto the mattress and Charna and Feng would snuggle to me to keep me warm.

I've been here for a couple of months now, and I've gotten ten times stronger in that time than my whole life's training combined. For my morning exercises every day I would have to climb a sheer cliff that was close to about one hundred meters with one hand, rotating which hand every day. After that, we would eat a small breakfast with some special herbal tea that restored my chakra, and then sparred.

For how old Akasde looked, he was freaking ridiculous strong and fast. Sakura fantasized about burning his walking stick, she had gotten so many bumps and bruises off that thing that it wasn't funny. She could just picture herself breaking the stick into tiny little pieces, jumping on them to smash them some more, and then incinerating them with a fireball. Every time she wasn't paying attention, didn't do something like he wanted to, or just to test her reflexes at random times she would end up with a personal meeting with his walking stick.

She cringed at the memory of the one time they got the walking stick from him. While they were sparring Sakura was able to knock it out of his hand, and Feng grabbed it and ran. He hid it behind a tree and covered it with some dirt and leaves. After the fight when Akasde realized his evil walking stick all three of us ran away and hid. We finally gave it back to him after he pummeled all of us and threatened to take away my mattress for a week! The nerve of him! You can't just take away a woman's bed, it just isn't done!

Akasde was an encyclopedia for jutsus though, even Orochimaru would have been jealous if he had still been alive. I've learned a lot of new ones, through a lot of hard work. After all of my physical training would finish before dinner, I would create a total of ten shadow clones. All of us would then split up into two groups. The first group would pour over the texts that Akasde had, filled with medical information and fighting techniques. The second group would split up and would each work with another clone of Akasde. The second group was responsible for listening and learning hand formations and techniques for special medical jutsus from Akasde. After about two hours of this, I would release my shadow clones and prepare dinner. All of the knowledge that myself and my clones learned would pour into me, and nine out of ten times give me a vicious headache and brain overload. But I learned, and I didn't forget anything.

Feng and Charna have become masters for each of their elements. It was amazing how far Akasde was able to train them as well. They now had perfect chakra control like me, and Feng was even able to use Rasengan like Naruto, although it isn't quite as powerful. Charna took great pleasure in dunking her brother whenever he became too haughty for his own good; I swear he reminded me of Sasuke with his "greater-than-thou" attitude. That just made me want to throw something at him, or throw him, either would work for me.

**WHACK!**

"Owww! What the hell was that for?!" Sakura whined rubbing the new knot forming on her head.

"Quit daydreaming. You're not getting paid to sit on your butt and look at the clouds. Now get up."

"HA! Paid! I don't get paid for anything! Like you could even pay me enough to do this! Only by evil torture and underhanded tricks did you con me into doing this." Sakura huffed as she finished washing his clothes in the creek. After finishing placing them on some rocks to dry did she stand up and dust herself off.

She bent down and picked up her two short-blades, taking them out of their sheaths. She still remembered the day they made them. Akasde showed her how to add her chakra to the steel as he forged her blades for her. They were able to blend and reinforce the steel, making it almost impossible to break. They were sharp enough to cut through anything, and Sakura made sure to sharpen them every day before she fell asleep. Akasde had also taught her a lot about swordsmanship, and although she wasn't as good with it yet as Sasuke was, she could still hold her own. Gripping the handles, she rotated both of them until each sat comfortably in her grip as she faced off with Akasde. She used her chakra to create a seal over both blades, dulling them so that they wouldn't cut anything, since she didn't figure it was a good idea to try and slice your sensei in half.

"Ready Sensei? I may just beat you today." Sakura stated as she adjusted her weight to the balls of her feet, and got into a fighting stance. Akasde just smirked as he gripped his walking stick and widened his stance.

Without warning Akasde attacked with a downwards slash, which Sakura easily countered as she tried to hit him in the back as she jumped over him. He quickly jumped forward, and did a back flip to miss Sakura's blades and land behind her. He aimed for her mid back, and sparks flew where her blade blocked him. She used her other sword to throw his weapon off of her.

They jumped apart spinning in the air and squared off towards each other again as they landed on the ground a few feet apart. This time Sakura attacked first as she rushed towards Akasde, chakra running into her feet as she faked left and sliced her right blade at Akasde chest. He parried and both of their movements almost became a blur as they fiercely fought each other.

When Sakura overstretched herself accidently, Akasde was quick to aim for her weak spot. Sakura was able to dodge just in time, although she was scrapped a bit by it. Akasde didn't give her any time to rest as he swung again aiming for her head, but Sakura was able to duck down in time to avoid it. She crossed her blades in front of her left side to block Akasde's second attack. She backed up another step and blocked every attack that Akasde threw at her. Doing flips every now and then to avoid a low-cut swing, and immediately having to counter a swing from above.

She was finally able to go on the offensive when she saw an opening after she had timed Akasde's attacks. After his third consecutive strike, Sakura made her move and with a quick spin to block his final attack was able to land a hit on the top of Akasde's left arm. She didn't give up her advantage to celebrate a hit as she continued swinging at Akasde. She swung high and continued spinning like a mini-tornado as he was forced to retreat to dodge her. When she had to pause to catch her balance he immediately swung and cut her clothing across her chest, but wasn't close enough to cut the skin. He easily blocked Sakura's next attack as she tried to cut straight down the middle of him. She hit his stick with her right blade, and when he blocked it, she was able to cut his kimono with her left sword at his chest, identical to the spot he cut her.

He then forced Sakura back and with a quick swipe of his foot was able to take her feet out from under her. She quickly placed her hands behind her head and pushed herself flipped backwards to standing again. She did a few more back flips until she was able to get far enough from Akasde so that she was able to defend herself from him. He swung low, and as Sakura jumped to avoid it, he continued his motion upwards and slammed into her back. She was thrown forward and skidded about ten feet forward, dust following in her wake. She pushed herself up again and turned to face him. She spit out the dirt and her mouth and met his next swing. When he tried kicking her down again she did a somersault and was able to go on the offensive again. This continued for about another twenty minutes until the match ended with Sakura on the ground and Akasde's stick placed against her throat.

"Good job Sakura. You've improved a lot since you first started. You no longer swing your blades like clubs. Dust yourself off and start your physical training."

"Yes Sensei." Sakura answered as she picked herself up off the ground and once again dusted herself off. She walked over to her fallen blades and picked them up, wiping them off before she placed them back into their sheaths again. After drinking a cup of herbal tea again, she began her physical training. She had to do 100 pushups with one finger, for all ten fingers, as she had both Feng and Charna sit on her back. 'You know, you two need to lay off the fish. Ya'll are getting fat. If you really loved me you would go on diets since you know I have to carry your fat asses.' Sakura told them as she finished her pushups. Charna snarled and flexed her claws, digging them slightly into Sakura's back in reprimand for the weight comment. Even though she was a cat didn't mean she didn't have the female phobia about weight. Feng did nothing more than try and add more weight on by sucking in more air.

She then climbed up into a tree and tied her feet to one of the branches. Taking a deep breath she started let herself hang upside down, with nothing but her chakra strings keeping her up in the tree. She started doing sit-ups, touching her toes with her nose every time; otherwise Akasde would make her start over again. After thirty solid minutes of that, Sakura move on to her next exercise – resistance training. Akasde would use chakra strings attached to Sakura's body, while she would try to move against them. When she first began training with him with this, she had almost no resistance, but now she was able to control about fifty percent of her movements. She would practice kicks and punches without chakra while she did this. Her speed of attacks had also increased from this training.

After she was through being puppet girl, she would go and practice her hand to hand combat. She used a hug log that had several sturdy thick branches that she had trimmed stuck randomly on the wood. Akasde had two strings attached to it to control it, and would twist it back and forth with one string or up and down with the other. Splinters were very frequent if she hit it wrong, and although Sakura had improved she still slipped up every now and then. She used her hands, elbows, and shoulders to make sure she blocked every branch that came her way.

One of her toughest parts of the day though was her water training. First Akasde would work with her for thirty minutes with water jutsus. After that she would have to run underwater. Sakura quickly learned that having to run while holding your breath was verrrrrry difficult. She quickly learned how to control her chakra to create a small air bubble around her mouth and nose so that she could breath underwater as she ran. The resistance from the water was good, and she was able to dramatically increase her speed without tiring out as quickly as she did while running up the mountain.

Last for the day would be training for fighting multiple opponents. This was set up as about twelve heavy sandbags attached to a steel pole that was shaped in a medium-sized circle. Some of them were just tied to the pole, while others could be controlled by Akasde, Feng, and Charna. They would pull on them to make it change angles or swing faster than normal. Sakura would have to stand in the middle of the circle and hit each sand bag in a row to get them started. Since she had to hit each one with different strength at different times, it became a little complicated to avoid all of them and throw and punches back.

Whenever Akasde wasn't directly involved in her training, he was working with the cats. They trained almost as hard as Sakura, and would join her fighting for the second spar of the day. Akasde had more difficulty defeating all three at once. He was proud of how far his pupil had come.

"Alright Sakura, that's enough training for the day. I want to show you how to make the special armor and clothes I was talking about" he said as he turned from the training field and headed towards the shine. Sakura picked up her weapons again and followed Feng and Charna inside the shrine behind him.

They walked to one of the back rooms where there was some type of string piled up in the corner, and a stool in the middle. Sakura looked on curiously as Akasde walked over towards the string.

"Um Sensei? How are we going to make clothes and armor out of string?" she asked as she watched him start to straighten out some of the string and pulling it tight.

"Just stand up on the stool, and bring your chakra to your hands. Remember how we used chakra to make your blades?" he asked. Sakura nodded her head. "We are applying the same concept now. We shall use both mine and your chakra this time for your clothes and armor, but it will take a while before we will be done. We should have a couple of outfits for you by the time you leave in a little over a year."

His hands started glowing red, and Sakura could feel his power vibrating inside of the room. She added her chakra to his, and Charna and Feng added theirs as well. All of the chakra combined to the silver looking string, where it started to glow brightly. The string then left Akasde's hands, floating in the air towards Sakura. It slowly started wrapping around her torso, weaving itself around her slowly, and becoming skin tight and solid. When the glow faded it was a midnight black, and she was unable to cut it with her kunai when Akasde told her to. It took about an hour to complete her shirt, and everyone was drained of chakra. The shirt was better than any armor that was at Konoha, and Sakura couldn't wait to show Tsunade this new trick.

The days flew by while training, turning into months. Akasde became like the crazy strong Grandpa that Sakura never had, and they became very close. Sakura told him everything about her life, how she was the weakest of her team, how Sasuke betrayed the village, how she trained with Tsunade and eventually ended up to where she is now. Charna and Feng were inseparable from her, and they became her best friends. She still missed home, but she wrote to Tsunade every month still so she wasn't completely isolated.

Sakura had finally completed her training under Akasde since her three years was about to run out. Akasde had promised to visit soon, to make sure she hadn't started slacking on him and embarrassed him. Didn't want to lose his reputation, although how this hermit had a reputation was beyond her. She promised to write once a week, and started her journey back to Konoha. She couldn't wait to see the faces of all of those she left behind. She was no longer the weak and pathetic Sakura that left. She was now strong, confident, but most important at peace with herself. She no longer felt like she had anything to prove. With Feng and Charna by her side she was afraid of no man.

Akasde smiled as he watched Sakura and her two cats walk towards Konoha. They wouldn't know what hit them when this firecracker showed up. She had grown into a beautiful woman, although she was oblivious to it. He would have to visit soon so he could help beat off all of the horny men that were sure to flock to her. He chuckled at that. They would be lucky to still have the parts to call themselves men if they tried to feel up on her though. Laughing hard now, he made his way back into the shrine to rest.

**Alright guys, that's it for that chapter. Not sure I'm happy with the fighting in this chapter though. If you have any suggestions please share. Hopefully I will update soon. **


	9. Coming Home

**Hey guys, I didn't take a week to update. YEAH! Hope you like it. R&R**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but chocolate chip cookies!!**

Tsunade sat at her desk, looking out her window in her office staring at the sunrise. For once her eyes were clear this early in the morning, her usual hangover nowhere in sight. Sakura was returning today, her baby girl was coming home. She had missed her so much over the last three years. Even though they talked through messages once a month, it wasn't the same as being able to see her grow up, able to hug her and talk to her whenever she wanted to. She felt like a piece of her was missing. She heard the door open slowly as she heard the soft sound of Shizune's footsteps.

"Shizune, have you canceled all of my meeting today?"

"Yes Tsunade, we don't have anything else planned today but meeting Sakura. Have you told anyone else that she was coming back today?" Shizune asked.

"No, she asked me not to tell anyone, she wants to surprise them. What time is it now by the way? She should be here soon."

"It's almost nine o'clock." Shizune answered as she looked at the clock on the side of the wall, hidden from Tsunade by the mountain of paperwork on her desk.

"Well let's go meet her at the gates. I'm not going to get any of this work done today anyways." Tsunade stated as she turned around and got out of her chair. She walked around her desk and headed towards the door, Shizune following behind her, making sure to lock the door before they left.

When they got to the gate, they sat on one of the benches in front of the gates, the two ANBU guards there looking at them questionably for being here this early, but wisely kept their questions to themselves. They had seen her strength too many times to annoy her. About thirty minutes of waiting while talking quietly about memories of Sakura they saw her coming towards them walking down the middle of the road with two big cats following behind her. Tsunade couldn't wait for her to walk the whole way, and she leapt up and started running towards Sakura.

Sakura dropped her bags and met Tsunade half way, and was tackled by her in a bear hug, similar to what she expected Naruto to do. Both of them were crying and laughing at the same time as they picked each other up and hugged each other again.

Shizune walked up at a much more sedate pace, but her eyes were shining with tears as well as she finally broke down and ran to hug Sakura too. After about five minutes of asking questions about each other and just enjoying seeing each other again, they were finally able to calm down to act like normal people again instead of blubbering idiots.

"I missed you so much Sakura. You can never leave that long again, I just couldn't take it." Tsunade said as she pulled Sakura into the hundredth hug for that hour.

She stepped back a step so that she could get a good look at Sakura. She realized she had changed A LOT over the last three years. Her hair was a deeper shade of pink, with black highlights in the front where some strands framed her face, pulled back into two braided pigtails trailing down her back. Her leaf village headband now had black material, and was tied on top of her head, not pulling back her bangs like she use to as a child. Her eyes had turned into a darker emerald shade, peaceful and full of knowledge and power. Her lips were a blood red, and she still had pale milky white skin. Sakura's faced had matured a lot, losing all of her baby fat and showing an exotic face usually found on the most expensive and popular geishas, but not ninjas. She had grown quite a few inches taller, now coming up to Tsunade's nose. There was no fat on her at all; her body was slender with the curves in all of the right places. She had one silver hoop with a ruby ball on the top of her right ear. She would have looked like a perfect china-glass doll if it wasn't for the power that seemed to just flow off of her.

Her outfit had definitely changed as well. She wore a tight black top that hugged her D-cup breast like a second skin. Two thin straps wrapped around the back of her neck and connected with her shirt to hold it up. Her shirt was shaped like a tube top, with a blood red circle for the Haruno clan as a jewel that covered where the straps connected to the shirt. Fish netting covered her stomach, and a small ruby bellybutton ring glimmered in the sunlight underneath it. A tattoo covered her lower back above her shorts, two midnight black panthers with cherry blossoms swirling around them and a ying-yang sign behind them. She wore black skin tight shorts with a kunai pouch strapped on her right side. A small black mini-skirt rested over her shorts, trimmed in red with a small cherry blossom stitched into the right corner. She had two sword sheaths crossed on her back, the handles upside down where she could easily pull them out, the straps crossing over her chest. She had on short black boots with heels that ended right above her ankles. To complete the outfit she had on black gloves similar to her old ones, except these had the fingers cut out of them, and a different half of the ying-yang sign on each glove. All in all she looked like a kick ass and sexy shinobi. Tsunade beamed with pride. Sakura was definitely going to turn a lot of heads in Konoha.

Tsunade then looked at the two panthers that had stayed by Sakura's bags since the beginning. They were both beautiful and exotic looking. Each pitch black, they were slickly muscled and toned. Both had dark ocean blue eyes, so dark they almost looked black. When Sakura noticed where Tsunade was looking at, she motioned for the two to come join her. Charna picked up one of her bags in her mouth, Feng grabbed the other and they glided over to sit next to Sakura, giving her back both of her bags.

"Tsunade, I would like you to meet my two best friends and partners, Feng and Charna. I know you're going to love both of them. Charna, Feng, meet my mother and our Hokage, Tsunade."

Both bowed down towards Tsunade. "Nice to meet you Lady Tsunade. Sakura has told us a lot about you." Charna spoke as she looked at her, Feng bowing his head in her direction as well. Tsunade's face was covered in shock at hearing Charna speak to her, but she quickly recovered and smiled at her. "Nice to meet you both as well."

"And this is Shizune; she's one of my best friends as well." Sakura said as she pointed towards Shizune, who was standing on the right side of Tsunade. They exchanged similar greetings. After the introductions the group of five walked towards the gates.

The ANBU guards watched with aw as they saw their Hokage walk through with both of her previous apprentices and two panthers following her. Both quickly looked away from the pink-haired one, afraid that the heat from their lust they both felt would become noticeable. Tsunade smirked as she saw both of them stare while looking at Sakura before quickly whipping their heads away. She couldn't see their faces but she could just imagine the blush on their faces.

Since it was now about ten o'clock, most of the village was out and getting their day started. Sakura smiled as the familiar sounds and smells of a busy and thriving village came back to her. After living in isolation for so long she had forgotten what it felt like to be surrounded by so many people. Charna and Feng stayed close to Sakura, nervous from being around so many strange humans.

Many of the villagers stopped and openly stared as they watched the group pass. Gossip started spreading like wildfire, wondering if the goddess looking woman was actually the little girl Sakura that disappeared a few years ago. Word quickly reached most of the old rookie 9, and everyone was excited and started looking for Sakura. By the time that Tsunade's group reached her office, almost everyone had heard the news of her arrival. Not a minute after they closed the door, a loud knock echoed across the room.

Before Tsunade could yell an answer, the door burst open, and Naruto flew through the door.

"Baa-chan is Sakura really back?" he yelled as he frantically looked around the room, his head almost a blur it was moving so fast. His jaw dropped as he finally saw Sakura, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks before he launched himself at her and knocked her down, for the second time that day, while he hugged her.

"Sakura-chan! Your back! I missed you so much, so many things have happened since you left. Why did you leave Sakura? Where did you go?" Naruto asked excitedly, not giving Sakura anytime to answer in between questions.

"Naruto, get off, I can't breathe." She laughed as she pushed him off of her, silently reassuring Feng and Charna, who were softly growling at Naruto. She picked herself up and dusted herself off, then looked at the crowd that had appeared at the door behind Naruto. Ino was at the front of the pack, and when she saw Sakura look over towards them she ran over and gave her a big hug too.

"We missed you forehead." She cried as she backed up to let the others give her a hug. The rest of rookie 9 and Kakashi-sensei gave her a hug, each saying how they missed her or where has she been. Sakura had to peel off Lee, already getting a headache from the shouts of youthfulness and love. Gag. When things finally calmed down they all backed up so that they could look at her. They were all surprised how mature and grown-up Sakura looked. She was no longer the little shy girl with a big forehead. She had definitely grown into it now. They also looked questionably at the two cats in the room as well, sitting silently watching everyone intently. They had never seen them around here anywhere either.

"It's great to see all of you guys again. I missed all of you. Right now though I still need to talk to Tsunade and move back into my apartment. How about we eat dinner tonight at Ichiraku's so we can catch up? How does that sound with all of you?" Sakura asked. The group agreed and they came up with a time, and then made their way outside the room. Naruto gave Sakura one last hug, leaving with a cryptic "I have a surprise that you've been waiting for for a long time" as he walked out.

"Well obviously everyone still remembers you. So now we have time for you to tell me all of the details about your trip that you didn't put in the messages." Tsunade said as she sat down at her desk and pulled out a cup and bottle of sake that she had hidden under a fake wall in one of the drawers.

After Naruto left Tsunade's office, he headed towards the Uchiha district. It was cleaned up and livable again, but still had a sad and lonely feel to it. Sasuke had recently just gotten off of probation, which had lasted a year. During that time he could not take any missions, had to have two ANBU guards around him at all times, and his chakra was bound to the level of a Genin. To say he was unhappy was an understatement, but he dealt with it because the only other option was death. What was left of Team Hebi also stayed with him in the Uchiha district. Naruto cringed at having to see Karin again. She was worse than him about being loud, and every other word out of her mouth was "Sasuke-kun, I love you" or "Sasuke-kun, when are we going to start restoring your clan?" It made Naruto want to gag.

Naruto knew that the news he was about to give Sasuke would make the ice cube happy, and would make Karin go ballistic. He almost rubbed his hands together in glee thinking about what he and Kiba could do to mess with Karin and make her go crazy with jealousy. Especially after she saw how beautiful Sakura looked. As his wild schemes were racing through his head, he walked through the gates and headed towards the practice fields behind Sasuke's house. He could hear the familiar sound of metal against metal as he turned the corner behind the house.

"HEY TEME!" he yelled as Sasuke came into sight. Sasuke dodged a kunai he clone threw at him, and turned towards Naruto. His clone disappeared with a poof of smoke.

"What dobe?" he asked in a bored tone, similar to the one he used when he was twelve. Naruto was glad he was back, and now that Sakura had finally returned they could be Team 7 again. Hopefully Sasuke would lighten up some. He was better than when he was with Orochimaru, but still acted superior to everyone but the Hokage, and still had that stick shoved up his ass. Some things would never change.

"You'll never guess what I found out today Sasuke-teme! Sakura-chan is back!! She got here just an hour ago. You won't believe how much she's grown up. She doesn't look like the same person at all hardly. Do you want to go with us tonight to Ichiraku's? All of rookie 9 will be there!" Naruto yelled excitedly as he walked over to Sasuke.

"So she's back, big deal. She's probably still annoying. Why did she leave anyway?" Sasuke coldly asked, twirling his kunai around his index finger with a bored expression on his face. Naruto just looked at him, and then began to laugh with tears streaming down his face.

"I am so going to take a picture of your face when you see her. She could be the most annoying person but I don't think any guy in Konoha would mind. She may just have a fan club like you with all of the guys between the ages of ten to fifty."

"Hn"

"So are you going to come or not? You can bring your . . . _friends _along too if you want." Naruto said as he slowly turned around and started making his way towards the exit. "We're meeting tonight at 9, don't be a jerk for once in your life and come. Later."

Naruto just smiled as he heard the kunai hit the tree with a solid thunk, and glancing back he saw that it had gone all the way through the thick tree, sticking half way into the next tree behind it. Naruto couldn't wait till the fireworks went off between his two best friends.

After Sakura finished updating Tsunade and Shizune on the last three years of her life, she ate a small lunch at one of the new restaurants with them. They finished up around two o'clock, and Sakura made her way towards her old apartment. A lot of the surrounding buildings had changed the last few years, being redone or new ones built. Apparently this wasn't the lower-class side of town anymore.

Sakura found her key hidden inside the gutter running down the side of the building, and unlocked her door. Nothing in her apartment had been touched since she left, and there was about two inches of dust on everything. Some of the furniture was covered in white sheets, giving the room a haunted feeling.

Sakura walked into the kitchen and turned on the sink, watching the water start to flow out of the faucet. After a few minutes, the murky water started to clear, and Sakura turned it off.

Achoo!

Sakura looked over and saw Charna's nose twitching from all of the dust.

"You alright Charna?" Sakura asked, trying her best not to laugh. Feng, however, didn't have that kind of discipline and started chuckling. What he wasn't expecting though was to breath in more dust because of his mirth, and started chocking when his throat became clogged up. This sent the two girls into giggles as they watched his face turn into one of disgust.

"Alright, let's get this place cleaned up so it will be livable by tonight." Sakura stated as she placed her bags on the counter. She then formed a few hand signs and ten clones appeared, crowding up the small room. "Let's get to work everyone!" Sakura yelled happily, and all of her clones scattered to different rooms.

The real Sakura walked into her old bedroom, and stopped to look at everything. She traced her finger over the dresser, leaving a small trail behind. Feng and Charna looked at her curiously as she wandered her old bedroom.

She stopped when she saw the old picture of Team 7, and picked it up. She swiped the dust away and smiled as she could once again clearly see the picture. She was in the middle, with a big smile on her face and her eyes closed. Kakashi was behind her, with both hands on top of Naruto and Sasuke, his visible eye crinkled into a smile. Sasuke was on the left, his usual scowl on his face. Naruto was on the right with his arms crossed glaring at Sasuke. Sakura smiled as she remembered some of the good times she had when all of Team 7 was together. Now Sai and Yamato were a part of the team, and Sakura didn't know if anyone else was added to replace her after she left. With a sigh she put the picture down and began to clean.

Sakura finished the apartment around 6 o'clock, and decided to take a nice long bath. Feng and Charna crawled onto her bed to take a short nap as she bathed. After Sakura was done she dried herself off and got dressed into clean clothes, although the exact match to the ones she was wearing earlier. When she finished unpacking, she took a quick trip to the grocery store to restock on all the necessities. When she was finished with all of her chores it was time to head to the ramen stand.

**Next one will have Sakura v. Karin, that should be fun. I'll try and update soon! Don't forget to review, I love all of the support.**


	10. First Glance

**50 Reviews!! All of you are awesome. I feel so loved. Although my email is being a bitch right now and not working with fan fiction and showing me my alerts, so I'm investigating that. Anyways I hope you like this new chapter. I was in a bad mood when I wrote this, so you'll notice that in some of the language. I tried to tone it down, so hopefully it won't be too bad. **

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Karin fumed as she followed Sasuke through the village. 'What was so great about this girl Sakura anyways? Last time she saw her, she was nothing more than an ugly girl with a big forehead and fake stringy pink hair. Sasuke hardly even acknowledged her presence either. So why was Sasuke-kun going to a welcome back dinner for her? It didn't make sense. Unless he was doing it because that was the polite thing to do. Yes, that was it. She calmed down after that thought. Of course her Sasuke-kun wouldn't want to go see his wimpy former teammate; he wouldn't want to see any other woman but me if he wasn't so honorable. But that is one of the things I love about him.'

'They had been back for over a year now, and Sasuke-kun still hadn't asked her to marry him yet. She knew he was going to, otherwise why would he give her a house to stay in the Uchiha district with him? Sure, he allowed Jugo to stay as well, and they weren't living in the same house, but that was because Sasuke-kun was a respectful gentleman, and didn't want the villagers to gossip about the future Mrs. Uchiha. She always got a warm and loving feeling when she thought of how protective he was of her reputation like that. It was just soooo romantic.'

'His kind and generous nature is also what forced him to pretend to be friends with that loud mouth blond baboon Naruto. The only reason he didn't kill him was because he didn't want to get into anymore trouble with Konoha. Those old biddies on the council should be licking his feet in gratitude for him coming back, not force him to go through petty punishments. They should be the ones punished for their stupidity. And the so called Hokage? What a joke. She was nothing more than a pathetic drunk who probably couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag, much less some of the opponents that Sasuke-kun had defeated. It was a crime that someone so pathetic was the leader of this hell hole. Yes, they should all definitely be grateful to Sasuke-kun for gifting them with his presence and offering them his power.'

Karin snapped out of her trance when Sasuke opened up the flap to walk into the disgusting ramen stand. Why anyone would choose to eat here was beyond her. She glanced around at the crowd, noting that everyone in here was a Jounin. She recognized most of them as what the ignorant villagers called the legendary rookie 9. Their old sensei were around too. Apparently they weren't too great if they hung out with old people like them. Although the one with silver hair was kinda cute, but she would never give her Sasuke-kun up for him.

Karin followed Sasuke as he walked over towards Naruto, glaring at anyone that looked their way. Just because they were jealous of her and Sasuke's relationship didn't mean they had to stare in envy at her. She noticed it started to get quieter as they got closer to the annoying blond, but she couldn't figure out why. Probably in awe at what a beautiful couple they made. When Naruto turned to greet Sasuke, Karin gasped. _This_ was _the_ Sakura? The ugly whiney weak bitch that tried to make Sasuke come back and claimed she loved him?

Karin hmphed. She looked like a cheap whore now in her opinion.

'The little bitch probably ran away in shame after Sasuke rejected her to stay with me' she thought with an evil smirk on her face.

'Probably spent her time in a whore house, but was so ugly even they didn't want her. She was probably weaker than the last time they met. It would be a breeze to embarrass her in front of her friends, and make sure she understood that Sasuke-kun belonged to me.'

--XX--

Sakura froze as she heard his voice greet Naruto. She slowly turned on her stool, and then she saw him. She slowly blinked, hoping this was a dream. He couldn't be here! He just couldn't. He was supposed to be a traitor that never came back. What happened to the avenger who wanted nothing more than power, and couldn't find it in "this pathetic village?" Her heart started to speed up, but she was able to keep her breathing normal. She realized that he couldn't see her from the angle he was at, but she could see him. The felt a tingle go down her spine as she took in his appearance.

He had grown over a foot since the last time she saw him, probably a few inches taller than Naruto. She might, might being the key word, be able to see over his shoulder with her heels on. He had filled out over the years, his chest was broader, his entire body toned from obviously hard training. He had a slight tan now, so I guess that ruled out that he was really a dead person warmed over. Damn. So she guessed garlic wouldn't run him off, but she bet a stake to the heart would work.

Sasuke had on a similar outfit from the last time she saw him. He still had the white shirt that had the Uchiha symbol on the back she bet. Although she noticed with disappointment that right now he had a black undershirt on as well. It's not like she wanted to see his chest she told herself. He had on baggy black shorts and a black rope belt holding them up, with the Uchiha symbol stitched on the bottom left hand corner of his shorts.

'How many times does he have to put his clan symbol on his clothes? I mean, everyone knows he is Sasuke Uchiha' she thought with a small smile, guess some things never change. He still had his katana strapped on the back, and she wondered if she would be able to fight against him to see who was better at blades now.

He was so different from the boy she fell in love with at the age of twelve, but yet so familiar. He still had that ice-cube demeanor, and that "I-am-a-Uchiha-bow-down-to-me" smirk. His hair was a little longer than last time, but still spiked up in the back. She almost laughed remembering all the times Naruto said it looked like a chicken's ass. Speaking of Naruto, she remembered what he said before he left that morning. That idiot, this was the surprise he was talking about. She was going to pound him tomorrow at the training grounds.

With a small sigh she turned her attention back to the situation at hand. She wasn't sure about her feelings for the Uchiha now. He was one of the main reasons she left in the first place. Always calling her weak and useless, having to waste his _precious_ time to come rescue her, because he didn't want his team to lose, not because he cared about her.

But she couldn't find in within her to hate him. Without leaving, her life wouldn't be what it is now. She wouldn't have Feng and Charna with her. She wouldn't have matured and grown under Tsunade or Akasde. She wouldn't be the woman she was today. She almost felt thankful to him, as ironic as that was. His quest for power sent her on one of her own.

A movement behind him caught her eyes. She had to suppress a growl as she saw that tramp Karin. What in the hell was she doing here? How could Tsunade allow her into the village?! Kami help the team she was put on if she was allowed to become a Konoha ninja. She still looked like a thoroughly used hooker, with her skanky white shirt and black shorts, which was shorter than her own, which was saying something. She still had on her hooker boots as well. Her red hair was long and somewhat combed on one side, but the other side looked like it got in a fight with a knife and got its ass whipped. She still had on those thick nerdy glasses, although from her hair she obviously still couldn't see. Sakura had to breathe through her nose to keep from getting sick at the horrifying image of her and Sasuke together.

Great….now she had to scrub her mind for the next few hours to get that image out of her head. She ignored the annoying feeling going through her that she refused to acknowledge was anything similar to jealousy. If that was what turned Sasuke on, maybe he really enjoyed his time with Orochimaru. You never know.

She noticed the third member of the group then. If she remembered correctly his name was Jugo. He looked like the kindest one out of the group. Sakura felt sympathy for him; she knew he was the one that the curse seal came from. She wondered if Tsunade had figured out how to cure him. If not, she would get on that tomorrow. Sasuke probably still had it if Jugo wasn't cured.

She finally turned back towards Sasuke, who was now bickering with Naruto. Yep, some things would never change. She guessed it was time to make her presence known.

"Long time no see, huh Sasuke?"

--XX--

Sasuke froze as he heard _her_ voice. It went over him like fire, burning his entire body from the inside out. He shifted a little to his left so that he could see her from behind Naruto. He couldn't believe that he hadn't recognized her chakra signature. When he caught sight of her, it felt like a punch to the gut. He was extremely grateful for his baggy shorts right now, otherwise his rising problem would become very public knowledge.

She looked like a goddess now. He allowed his eyes to quickly scan her, and he could honestly say she left him speechless. He had to fight to keep his nose from bleeding. She had grown into her forehead. Her hair trailed down in pigtails to right above her curvy ass. Legs that went on forever that almost made him break out in a sweat. She had definitely filled out in all the right places that was for sure. Her eyes were what had changed the most though. A deeper emerald shade, they no longer shined with innocent, but with inner peace and knowledge of the world. She held herself with confidence now, assured of her own power.

He wondered if she still loved him. He noticed that she dropped the 'kun' from his name. "Yeah it has. How have you been Sakura?" he asked, noticing the tiny widening of her eyes as he said her name. He then wondered why she looked surprised, then realized that that was the first time he had ever had a polite response to her question. He felt kind of ashamed at his attitude towards her all these years after that realization.

"I'm doing great actually. I'm surprised you're back though. You've obviously been here for a while since I can't sense any ANBU guards here." she replied with a small smirk twisting her lips. Sasuke wanted to do nothing except kiss that smirk of her's off. That would shock everyone in here, especially her.

He flinched as he felt Karin's hand wrap around his arm, her nails slightly digging into his arm, leaving little red crescent marks. He never should have let her follow him. He had told Jugo where he was going, and invited him along, but apparently he made the mistake of letting it slip around the clingy bitch. No matter what he did she wouldn't leave him alone, she was worse than any other fan girl he had ever had to deal with. He just _thought_ that Sakura was annoying when they were kids. God he would pay all of the Uchiha fortune to have Sakura as his fan girl instead of Karin.

"My Sasuke-kun doesn't need ANBU guards to follow him. He's proven his loyalty to Konoha. Not like they would be effective in keeping him here anyways if he wanted to leave. He could defeat all of them in a minute flat." Karin said, and Sasuke had to force himself not to cover his ears at the horrible squawking sound that was her voice.

"I'm sure he could. However before you interrupt me I was simply making an observation, not implying anything about his skills. You should show more discipline than always trying to start a fight about Sasuke. I'm sure he doesn't need his whore to defend him. If he had to rely on someone as weak as you for protection, I can only say I hoped he has already made peace with the world" Sakura smoothly answered, making Karin look like the violent obsessive stalker that she is. Needless to say, this pissed Karin off. Sasuke was just surprised that Sakura would say something like that. It definitely wasn't something he was expecting to come from her.

"You BITCH! How dare you call me a whore and weak! You're the one who looked like she just stepped out of a whore house. And I bet that Tsunade didn't even assign you ANBU guards, but Genin because you're so weak. You're just jealous of Sasuke's and my relationship. You should have just stayed wherever you came from!" Karin yelled red in the faced and huffing for air.

"Don't you two. I don't know what kind of diseases you may catch by being around her, much less eating her." Sakura said. Looking down, Sasuke saw two panthers about to attack Karin. One had their mouth open about to take a chunk out of her left leg. Another was behind her crouched down, muscles tensed ready to spring at her. When Karin saw them she screamed and jumped onto the other side of him.

"Sasuke-kun save me! That bitch is trying to attack me with those flea-bitten cats. Kill them Sasuke-kun!" She ordered while crying her eyes out and clutching onto his shirt.

Sasuke carefully peeled off her hands and bent down next to the two cats. They eyed each other warily and he could feel Sakura tense up. "What are their names?" he asked, not taking his eyes off them. Sakura got up off the stool and crouched down next to the two panthers. "This one is Feng," she said touching the one who was crouched down," and this one is Charna" pointing towards the one who was trying to take Karin's leg off earlier. Both cats went to Sakura and started rubbing up against her, a soft purring noise coming from both of them. Sasuke felt a strong urge to go over and hug her, but resisted. He would have to start this slowly.

"Karin, shut up."

"But, but … Sasuke-kun, they tried to kill me! You have to defend me. She can't get away with this." Karin said, starting to get angry.

"Actually I saved you. You should be more aware of your surroundings. But I saved Feng and Charna more, no telling what all has touched your body, and I don't want to have to heal them from ingesting you. STD's and stuff like that are such a bitch to cure you know?" Sakura said with an innocent smile.

Karin screamed and jumped towards Sakura, trying to claw her eyes out. When she was about an inch away, Sakura disappeared. Karin fell flat on her face and skidded a few feet. She came up spitting dirt, trying to find her glasses. When she pulled them back on, she looked for Sakura.

"What's a matter Sakura? Scared? You should be. I'll make you eat your words." Karin boasted, getting up and trying to dust herself off.

Sakura appeared behind her, a chopstick pressed against Karin's throat. "How do you expect to make me "eat my words" if you can't even touch me? You're not even worth my time so I suggest you quit while you can still move." Sakura whispered, backing up, where only the few right next to them could hear.

Karin, being the bright person she is, pulled out a kunai and spun around, trying to surprise attack Sakura. Sakura simply put one finger up, and stopped the attack by shattering the kunai Karin was holding.

"Look bitch, I'm warning you. Leave me alone. I don't feel like playing with you right now." Sakura hissed. Sasuke could never remember seeing her act like this, and it was just a bit scary, although he would never admit it. He could see Naruto out of the corner of his eye shaking his head and looking pitying at Karin.

Karin looked in shock at the broken pieces of her kunai that was crumbled in her hand, and looked up at Sakura. She charged at Sakura again, raising a fist readying to punch her. Sakura easily deflected it, and then flicked Karin on the arm, sending her crashing into the nearby wall. She landed in an undignified heap, coughing and spitting out blood.

"Is that a..all you've got, what a wea…weakling. No wonder everyone abandoned you." Karin sputtered after a minute or two, trying to pick herself up off the floor. Sasuke saw the fire in Sakura eyes, and decided he should intervene before she killed Karin. Not because he cared about Karin, but he didn't think it would be a good thing for Sakura to kill someone on her first day back.

When Sakura was about to lunge, Sasuke appeared behind her, wrapping both arms around her to cage her to him. She struggled for a few seconds, but calmed down since she didn't want to hurt anyone but Karin. Sasuke held on to her for a minute more, not so much to make sure she didn't attack but to enjoy the feel of her. She fit into his body like she was made for him, and he had to fight to keep his arms still so that he didn't start groping her in front of everyone. He felt her breathing speed up a little as she realized who held her back. He could smell her, cherry blossoms and vanilla. Her hair felt like silk where it rubbed against his skin. He prayed that she was angry enough that she didn't recognize how turned on he was right now, since she was pressed up against it. It would be really hard to miss if she wasn't so focused on something else. When that thought went through his head he quickly released her and backed up.

He noticed the small blush on her cheeks, and couldn't help but smirk at it. So apparently she still felt something for him. Now he just had to figure out how much she felt. Sasuke realized his mistake in letting her go as she immediately appeared before Karin, who was still struggling to stand up, and flicked her on the forehead. Karin crashed through the wall out into the street, and didn't move. Sakura performed a few hand signs and the wall was fixed, no one could tell that just a few seconds ago there was a giant Karin-sized hole in it. Sakura dusted her hands off and walked over to Naruto.

"Well guys, I don't know about you but I've had all the fun I can stand right now. I think I'm going to call it a night. I'll see you all tomorrow." Sakura said as she gave Naruto and Ino a hug, then gave a small wave to everyone else, as she disappeared behind the curtain as she walked out, her two panthers trailing behind her.

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who simply nodded at him and turned around to keep Ino distracted. Sasuke told Jugo bye, then followed Sakura.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**Alright ya'll hope you're not too disappointed. I thought about making the fight longer, but that ain't Sakura's style. Plus, I want to make Karin suffer before I finish her off. Leave a review and tell me how I did. Later. **


	11. Progress

**Hey guys, I am sooooo sorry for the delay. I'll tell you what happened at the end. Read and review. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own this little story. **

When the curtain closed behind Sakura, an evil grin spread across her face. One that would make anyone tremble in fear if they saw it. She serenely walked over towards Karin, Feng and Charna following her closely. Both of them had smirks on their face as well. Karin was in a dusty crumpled heap, blood spilling around her from the wounds she gained by going through the wall. Sakura knelt down besides Karin's unconscious form, her hands starting to glow with chakra. She performed a few hand signs quickly, and Karin's body started to slightly glow. Now anyone else would think she was healing Karin out of the kindness of her heart, but the opposite was true.

After a few seconds, Sakura stood back up and started walking towards her apartment. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud. The jutsu she just put on Karin would definitely provide a lot of amusement throughout the next few weeks. Every time she thought about hurting Sakura, Feng, or Charna, she would turn into a disgusting shade of puke green, and have a dreadful case of itching in very…um, private places. Feng and Charna were both laughing, almost sounding like a choking sound because they couldn't breathe. After a minute Sakura pause for just a second, and then started walking back towards her apartment without anyone noticing her hesitation.

She felt Sasuke making his way towards her, and she was wondering what he thought he was doing. She could tell he was trying to sneak up on her, masking his chakra and making hardly anymore sound than the wind. Did he really think he could sneak up on her? Who did he think she was? The same weak Genin he left behind? HA! He better not push it, or he wouldn't like how she would break him. She took a deep breath, and could smell him on the wind. He was almost to her now.

"It's not nice to try and sneak up on a lady Sasuke. You never know what can happen out here in the dark." Sakura said, turning her head to look up at Sasuke on the roof next to her. She saw surprise flash through his eyes, but was gone just as quickly and no other evidence that he was surprised. After a moment of silence Sakura decided to break it.

"What do you want Sasuke? Shouldn't you be taking _Karin_ to the hospital right now? She needs medical attention."

"Hn"

"Ah, glad to see you still have the vocabulary of a one year old. I'm so proud." Sakura responded sarcastically. Sasuke jumped down from the top of the roof, landing in front of her. Feng and Charna walked in front of Sakura, blocking Sasuke from her. Their lips were curled up into a snarl, trying to warn Sasuke off. He glanced down at them before looking back up at Sakura.

"You left before we could talk. What's a matter Sa-ku-ra? Afraid that if you spend too much time in my company you won't be able to keep up the act of being tough?" he asked, a smirk starting to form.

"You WANTED to talk to me?! HAHAHAHa. Yeah right." Sakura laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. When she finally calmed down she continued. "When hell sells ice-cream cones to everyone there would be when you want to talk to me. You're still as full as yourself as ever I see. And where the hell do you get off saying that me being tough is an act? You don't know me anymore Sasuke. I'm not the weak little Genin you abandoned on a bench. I'm not the grieving girl I was when I left. You have no right to even think you know me anymore Uchiha. Speaking of which, what are you even doing back here? Did you finally complete you're life goal?" Sakura asked, one hand on her hip, giving a cold glare to the stoic Uchiha.

Sasuke stared at her a minute before he replied. "Yes, I've fnally avenged my family. Itachi is dead. Now I have one more goal – to restore my clan."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. Just don't ask me to babysit your kids, if they're anything like Karin it wouldn't end pretty."

Suddenly Sasuke disappeared and a second later she felt his breath on the back of her neck, and an arm wrap around her waist. "What if they acted like me?" he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Sakura couldn't answer though as she froze in shock when he kissed her neck. After a second she finally managed to drag her mind out of the gutter and gain control over her body again. She quickly twisted around, breaking out of Sasuke's grip.

"Why on earth would I want to help take care of mini ice cubes? Having to deal with you will be bad enough."

Before Sakura could blink she was plastered up against the wall, her entire body pressed against Sasuke's Sakura couldn't prevent the tiny shiver that raked her body, glaring at Sasuke when he smirked.

"What do you think you're doing Uchiha?" she hissed at him. Feng and Charna were about to attack him when two snakes slithered in front of them, blocking off their path. Both snakes popped their heads up, hissing at the two panthers. They eyed each other warily, ready to strike if the other moved.

"You have changed Sa-ku-ra. I'm impressed. You once would have done anything to be around me, now you're trying to pretend that you can't stand me. Why is that? Are you trying to hide your feelings from me?"

"Actually no, I just grew out of them. And I have to say Sasuke, I'm not impressed. You left for all of those years to become powerful. You severed every bond you had. You even tried to kill Naruto and me! And yet you thought that when you got back I would just fall at your feet and worship you like I did when I was a kid? Please. So yeah, you killed Itachi. Congratulations. You're no longer an avenger. You even have a brood-mare already set up to have little Uchiha's running around. But all I see when I look at you is a pathetic and annoying brat who cares for nothing but yourself. So let me ask you this, after everything you've done, was it worth it?" The last word barely left her mouth before she disappeared with a puff of smoke, Charna and Feng also gone.

Sakura walked into the door of her apartment when she released her shadow clone, rubbing her forehead. A killer headache was coming on. She put some chakra in her fingers, and her headache went away. She took a quick shower, and got ready to go to sleep. Before she got in bed she placed a jutsu over her apartment that would keep anything and everything out of her apartment. If anyone uninvited tried getting in they would have a nasty shock waiting on them. It would definitely be enough to wake Sakura up before they attacked.

She crawled under her sheets and sighed at the heavenly feeling. After spending three years on the ground or a thin mattress, an actual bed was exquisite. Feng and Charna crawled up next to her, one on either side. She curled up to them for warmth, and allowed sleep to finally claim her.

--XX--

The next morning the entire village was talking about Sakura. Some wondered if she was still the sweet innocent little girl who left, while others questioned her loyalty to Konoha. Her brand new fan club was deciding on ways to ask her out and plotting on how to get her alone. Everyone though was curious as to where she had been for the last three years and what she had learned. The whole population was speculating on just how strong the cherry blossom had become.

Tsunade decided to find out for herself how strong her previous apprentice had become. That's why early that morning she was waiting in a clearing by the river for Sakura. Her eyes were clear and alert, indicating that for the second day in a row she was without a hangover. She had decided that the best way to test Sakura's strength was sparring with her, and she would need to be at her best, because Sakura was almost her equal when she left. Tsunade looked around into the surrounding forest and glared. Apparently someone found out about the match, because it looked like most of the village has shown up as spectators. The entire rookie squads were there, even Shikamaru was interested enough to get up this early in the morning. It seemed like the only person missing was Sakura herself.

After about ten minutes everyone saw Sakura walking on top of the water in the middle of the river towards the Hokage. Feng and Charna flanked her, showing with ease that they too had the chakra control to walk on water.

Tsunade heard many of the people watching gasp, mainly the ones who hadn't seen Sakura yesterday. It was all Tsunade could do not to laugh when she heard some of the guys pronounce their undying love for "our angel Sakura." Wow, how pathetic. Tsunade noticed that the annoying tramp Karin was here as well, although she looked like hell. She had bruised all over her, and her face and one of her arms looked swollen. When she saw Sakura and glared, her entire body started to turn green, and she absentmindedly started scratching herself. Tsunade smirked as she recognized Sakura's work. She would have to ask later what happened.

Sakura stopped a few feet in front of her and started pulling on her gloves. "You ready Tsunade?" She pulled off her two katanas, and gave them to her cats. Each took one in their mouth and headed over towards the spectators. They sat in front of Naruto and Sasuke, laying down and waited for the fight to start.

Sakura and Tsunade waited until they were sure everyone was far enough back, and then faced each other. They both got into their similar fighting stances, although Sakura's was altered a little bit from her new training.

"I won't hold back this time Sakura. I hope you trained enough to be able to survive this." Tsunade said, preparing to attack. Hardly a second after the words left her mouth Sakura disappeared. Tsunade looked around, and just barely was able to block the incoming kick from Sakura towards her back. It still knocked her back ten feet, and a bruise was already starting to form on her arm. Sakura immediately pushed off the ground and attacked again. Tsunade was able to grab her punch and throw up a knee towards her stomach.

Sakura blocked the kick with her hand, and pushed off of it, flipping herself over Tsunade's head. She grabbed Tsunade's arm that was still gripping her left hand, and when she hit the ground behind her flipped her over in the air, throwing her away from her.

Tsunade flipped in the air and landed on her feet twenty feet away. Sakura jumped up and rapidly formed some hand signs, completing them so quickly that no one saw all of the completely. Both of her hands started glowing a bright red. She flicked one of her wrists towards Tsunade and a line of fire shot off towards her.

"Dragon Dance" Sakura murmured. Fire completely engulfed her body, and a large dragon seemed to rise from behind her. It charged up into the sky, and then came shooting down towards Tsunade. Tsunade managed to barely dodge it, getting singed by the flames as the dragon missed. Before she could move though the dragon twisted and surrounded Tsunade caging her in. She punched a fist in the ground, bringing up a wall of earth to surround her, effectively blocking the dragon.

Sakura released the jutsu when she felt Tsunade leave her shelter and go into the ground. She calmly tracked Tsunade's movements in the earth, and when she came up with a chakra-filled punch, Sakura easily dodged it. She took advantage of Tsunade's vulnerable state and kicked her in the stomach, rocketing her towards the trees. She crashed through two trees before a third one stopped her.

Tsunade got up and quickly healed her ribs, swiping off the blood that had spilt out of her mouth. She looked at Sakura with new respect and a hint of disbelief. It was so hard to connect this impossibly strong kunoichi with the weak Genin she had apprenticed all those years ago. What was even harder to believe was that she was holding back. She had given up both her panthers and katanas to make this a more even match, and even then she was holding back. Most wouldn't be able to notice, but she was withholding most of her chakra.

Tsunade poured chakra into her feet and sped towards Sakura at full speed. A few feet in front of Sakura instead of aiming towards her, Tsunade hit the earth with a chakra-filled punch, creating a giant crater and forcing Sakura to jump into the air. Tsunade teleported behind Sakura and kicked her in the back, making her hit the ground creating a hole where she hit. Before she could touch the ground though she realized that it was just a clone, about the same time she felt the punch to her stomach.

--X--

Sasuke was speechless as he watched the fight. HA! More like battle royal. It was not a pleasant feeling to realize that two women, both whom you believed was beneath your notice, could create a canyon on their own, with hardly any effort. The reason that many people feared pissing Tsunade off now became so much clearer. Now he really wondered about Naruto's intelligence, to always taunt Tsunade knowing that with just a flick you can have a one way ticket across the village.

Sasuke couldn't wrap his mind around that Sakura could be this strong. He still saw her as the weak emotional little girl playing ninja. Good for information on some things but useless in a fight. When she told him she wasn't weak anymore she wasn't playing around. Damn.

She was absolutely beautiful when she fought now. Every move seemed effortless to her. It almost looked like she was ice-skating, gliding across the ground when she moved. She reminded him of some of the dancers that Orochimaru used to keep in his base. He wondered what a battle between him and her would be like. She would definitely be useful during training now.

Tsunade got a few good hits on Sakura, but was receiving more than her fair share as well. After Sakura did the fire dragon jutsu she started using the water element jutsus as well. It was phenomenal that she could perform so many high-level jutsus and still have so much chakra. It was like she had a bottomless supply, not as much as Naruto but proportional to it. It was almost like watching a fireworks show, explosions and blinding lights everywhere across the clearing. If any attack happened to miss a crater would appear from the impact. His sharingan was recording everything he saw, filing some of the unfamiliar jutsus for later use. He never thought he would have to use it on Sakura to learn some of _her_ moves.

She could definitely join ANBU easily at this level. It almost made Sasuke laugh. The dysfunctional Team 7 was the only original Genin team that all of the members were at ANBU level. Naruto was already a captain, and Sasuke would get promoted as one next week. It would have been earlier except he only just got off of parole. Hard to increase rank when you can't do any missions or take any of the entry exams. It was a pain in the ass to have to take the chunnin, Jounin, and ANBU exams all in two weeks. It wasn't hard, just a pain in the ass to have to do so many pointless tasks. At least it had made the dobe shut up about being a higher rank than 'the prodigy.' Sometimes Sasuke wondered if he would do the world a favor by killing Naruto.

Sasuke was brought out of his thought by the screams of Karin and a few other villagers around him. He looked up and saw Sakura's body flying towards him from where it looked like Tsunade got a solid hit on her. Before anyone could move a shield appeared, effectively protecting all of the spectators. Sasuke looked down and was surprised to see the two cats that had followed Sakura around had glowing eyes, chakra leaking out of them to create the shield. Sakura's body hit with a thud, almost making him wince. That had to have hurt. She never hesitated though. As soon as she hit, a second later she was using the shield as a spring boards and launching herself back towards Tsunade.

Some fan boys were crying about Tsunade being mean hitting someone that beautiful, while others were cheering saying Sakura was unbeatable and saying how they were going to marry her. Sasuke had to clench his hands in his pockets so that he didn't kill all of the idiots. Damn this was such a headache. He already had to deal with his fan girls, and now it seemed that Sakura had her own fan club. If he wasn't already on thin ice he would probably have killed them all already. Maybe he could get away with some torture, and then make them forget who did it. Would that be too suspicious?

He already figured out that he would marry Sakura. She was strong, smart, and beautiful. She would be the perfect mom to help restore the Uchiha clan. Now the only problem was convincing her of that. That would be a little more difficult than he first though. He knew she wouldn't immediately agree, because he did try to kill her and Naruto once, but he didn't expect her to be this bitchy about it. If he had really wanted to kill them both he would have, she should know that. He also had to get rid of Karin. She was beyond annoying on a good day, but since Sakura got back she had finally gone off the deep end. He may get an award for killing her though.

He didn't love Sakura, but he did have feelings for her. He would always protect her and his kids, and she would want for nothing with the fortune left to him from his family. The amount was almost the same as the entire amount of Konoha combined. Her childhood dream would be fulfilled too. The way Sasuke saw it it was a win-win situation for both involved. Not he would just have to force her to see that. He needed the strongest kunoichi in the village, and she was it.

--X--

The battle had been going on for over an hour now. Sakura was hardly winded, while Tsunade was sucking in air as fast as her lungs could. Sakura could sense that Tsunade was also running low on chakra. She would have enough to heal herself, or could throw one more good punch. She wasn't used to long battles, and the paper work wasn't doing her any favors with being in shape. Sakura cringed as she accidently took a deep breath, pain knifing through her side where she had a broken rib. Both women were covered in dirt and blood. It was time to call the match.

"How does a tie sound Tsunade?" Sakura yelled across the clearing. Tsunade gave her a questioning look before understanding dawned. It was pointless to go on; calling a tie would save energy for both sides. Tsunade nodded her head in consent and started healing herself. Sakura healed all of her wounds as she walked over towards Tsunade, dusting her clothes off when she was finished. Although a little disheveled, you couldn't tell that she had just got out of an hour fight with the Hokage. None of her clothes were ripped, and every wound was gone as if they had never been. Tsunade had all of her wounds healed, but she looked a little worse for wear. Her clothes were ripped everywhere, and she was smeared with dirt across her face and back.

"So what do you think Tsunade? Was the three years of training worth it?" Sakura asked with a cocky grin on her face. Tsunade pulled her into a bone-crunching-hug before answering. "Yeah, I think it was. But you can never leave me for that long again. I don't care what it is. I'm so proud of you though Sakura. You've finally proved to me that I was right in that you would surpass me. That reminds me, I have to go collect my earnings. You've helped pay many of my debts Sakura." With another hug and a smile, Tsunade turned and headed back to the Hokage tower, already thinking of the new money she would have and where she could go gamble and buy a few bottles of sake. To think, people doubted Sakura. Not even Tsunade was that big of a sucker.

When everyone realized that the fight was over, they started drifting back towards the village. A huge group of men ran towards Sakura, holding bouquets of flowers and other gifts. Screaming their love for her It was like seeing a stampede of bulls charging towards her, and Sakura did what any girl would do – RUN! She ran towards Feng and Charna, grabbing her katanas and strapping them on her back as she ran. She gave a quick wave and smile towards her friends, before she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the group of guys alone crying.

**God, this took forever to get done. Painting houses, fighting with my brother, 4th of July, going to AL, the list goes on. Once again, sorry for the long delay for the update. I'm thrilled with all of the reviews, ya'll make me feel so loved. Hope you liked this chapter and I'll try my best to get the next one up as soon as possible. I'm going down to Florida Saturday, but I will have internet there so I may can get one or two updates out. **


	12. Working off steam

**I'm so so so so so so so sorry for the long time between updates. I was having a mild case of writer's block and I don't want it to mess with this story, so that's why it took so long. Also I haven't had internet for the last two weeks, so that didn't help. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

After Sakura ran away from the crazed fan boys, she made her way to a waterfall not too far from the southern corner of Konoha. She needed to work off some of the adrenaline from the fight, and she could wash off in the water as well. She placed all of her weapons on the bank and started stripping off some of her armor. Feng and Charna laid down on the bank and stretched out, enjoying the warmth from the rising sun.

"Are you sure you want to do that here Sakura? Someone may come see you with us being this close to the village," Charna spoke.

"Don't worry about it Charna, even if someone saw it wouldn't matter. I just need to work off some steam, and this will be fun. I haven't done it in a while. Do either one of you want to help?" Sakura asked, unstrapping her two katanas and placing them on some rocks. She then started undoing her boots.

"I'll play. When you freeze the water I'll use my wind to manipulate it. I need some exercise since we probably won't get too much here in this village. Too crowded for my tastes," Feng said, picking himself up off the ground and walking towards the water bank.

"I think I'll just keep look-out. I just want to swim afterwards," Charna

When Sakura was down to nothing but her shorts and bindings, she walked over towards the water. She quickly scanned the area, and besides the few nearby animals, no one was around. She glided onto the water, making it look like she was ice-skating across it.

Sakura stopped in the middle of the pool of water, and her hands started glowing. The water around her started rippling outwards, slowly starting to swirl around Sakura. The current started picking up, the water starting to come up and form a tornado around Sakura. Her braids started coming undone, her hair whipping around her in the same direction of the tornado. All of the water from the waterfall and pool rushed towards and circled around Sakura, engulfing her entire body. The water was so thick and fast that you could only see a blurry outline of her through it. Suddenly all of the water rushed up even higher, revealing Sakura again with her arms raised towards the hovering water. Ice started to form around the edges, quickly freezing the rest of the body of water. The ice shattered into thousands of pieces, creating ice daggers hovering in the air.

Feng walked out next to Sakura and his eyes started glowing blue. A gust of wind blew around the two, making the ice start to spiral above their heads. Lightning crackled in between them, making them glitter and beams of light to shoot around them. The circle started to widen creating a ring around what was the lake a minute ago. Feng forced the wind to go even faster, forcing the ice to circle until it looked like a solid ring of diamond surrounded them. Sakura brought more water from the waterfall and brought some up into the sky again, creating a perfect sphere. In a blink of an eye all of the ice rushed towards the sphere at once. A bolt of lightning hit the sphere at the same time the ice did, creating an explosion. Ice and water started rained down from the sky. The ice and water looked like diamonds falling out of the sky. A few sun rays hit the ice and created a rainbow variety of colors across the sky.

Sakura spread her arms out and opened her mouth, letting a few pieces of ice and water to fall into her mouth. The rest soaked both her and Feng, rising so high that both of their bodies were submerged in water. A few seconds after the all of the water was in the pool again and started to calm again, their heads popped up. Charna walked into the water and swam towards them.

They played in the water for another thirty minutes before they got out and dried off. They then made their way back towards Sakura's apartment, walking through the middle of the busy village to get there.

Before Sakura could reach her apartment though, an eagle-masked-ANBU messenger showed up.

"Sakura Haruno your presence is required by the Hokage immediately. Will you please follow me?" he asked, quickly turning and running off towards the Hokage tower without even stopping to hear her answer or see if she would follow.

"Why yes, I would love to go see the Hokage instead of go home and eat. Whatever was I thinking?" Sakura grumbled as she quickly followed the ANBU. When they all reached the tower the ANBU knocked on the door three times, and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Sakura walked into the office to see Tsunade behind her desk and mountain of paperwork. She looked to her right and saw Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto sitting in a few of the office chairs. She felt a little nervous when she noticed how quiet the room was, and with Naruto in it, something was definitely up. He was NEVER quiet.

"Sakura, we need you for a very important mission. You and the rest of the old Team 7 are going to Suna."

**Yes, I know it is a cliff hanger and too short for how long you've waited, but I will update in the next day or two, I'm just trying to get my life together right now. I've been seeing someone so I have like no free time at the moment. I promise the next one will be longer and won't be a big cliff hanger. Thanks for all of the reviews guys and once again I apologize all of you for making you wait so long. **


	13. Not What Was Expected

Sakura wiped the sweat from her brow as she jumped from tree to tree. Feng and Charna were right behind her, landing in her footsteps so that no one would be able to tell that they were following. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke were ahead of her, all running almost full out. It was almost two in the morning now, the moon glimmering through the trees the only source of light they had to go on.

Sakura thought it was stupid that they put "the little woman" at the back of the group to protect her when Sakura could easily see better in the dark than all of them but Sasuke since he had the Sharingan. Kakashi wasn't using his to preserve chakra. But it was pointless to complain and it was beneath her anyways, because it would waste time. The most important thing now was getting to Suna as soon as possible. They had been running for twelve solid hours now with only one short water break about six hours ago. Although Sakura knew they could keep going and make it to Suna well before sunrise, they would have to stop. They wouldn't be any help to anyone if they showed up half-dead from running so hard. Already they were four times the pace any other ninja in Konoha could manage, so they would arrive on time if they slept for a few hours.

With that thought in mind Sakura jumped a little harder passing Sasuke and Naruto so that she was parallel to Kakashi. He glanced over towards her with his eye before looking forward again to make sure he didn't veer off course.

"We need to rest for a few hours Kakashi. We need to be at full strength when we get there. There is a spring about two miles ahead of us that has some food nearby and a comfortable place to lie down."

Kakashi thought about it for a few seconds before silently nodding his head in agreement. Sakura pushed forward even faster so that she could lead the group to the area she had made camp at a few years ago. She could already feel the running water and could still sense the faint trail of her chakra from staying there so long. The closer they got evidence of demolished trees proved her previous stay here. Sakura found the area she used to sleep at and stopped, allowing the others to catch up. They all landed behind her a few seconds later without a sound, except for Naruto who feel on his ass. Apparently he still needed to work on his landing.

Sakura grabbed everyone's water bottles and went to refill them at the river. She had a small smile on her face as she thought about how far she had come from the girl who came here to train a few years ago. She would be forever thankful to Akasde for his training. Feng and Charna got their fill of water while she finished up her chore, and together all three made their way back towards the group.

Sasuke was propped up against a tree with his eyes closed, although she knew he was still awake by his breathing, while Naruto was laid out spread eagle a few feet away, already passed out. Kakashi was against another tree close by, his tattered and well-read _Icha Icha_ in hand, although how he could read in this little light without his Sharingan was beyond Sakura. Dirty old man probably memorized the entire book. She tossed everyone their bottles and lay down on a bed of grass. She snuggled up to Feng and Charna for heat, and quickly fell into a light sleep.

XX

The next morning at sunrise Team 7 arrived at the gates of Suna to the sight of a vicious battle just starting. Ninjas from the Village Hidden in the Rock were attacking the village guards, and everyone quickly went into action. Sasuke was the first to reach the enemy, and in a blink of an eye about five of them went down, already dead before they hit the ground, blood slowly starting to pour out of their wounds a few seconds later. Naruto created about twenty shadow-clones and jumped head-first into the fight, Kakashi close behind with chidori already lighting around his hand.

Sakura jumped on top of the entrance gates, and looked inside of Suna. Most of the enemy-nin hadn't reached the interior of the village yet, the other shinobi from Suna holding them off. Sakura saw where a group of them were about to break through, and moved into action. With one punch to the chest she killed the leader of the small group while Charna and Feng quickly dispatched the rest of the group with just a small hint of blood lust. Sakura looked around for other enemy shinobi and was able to block an attack from behind on Naruto. Quickly and efficiently the battle went on, the enemy going down so easy that it was almost child's play for Sakura and the rest of her team.

About thirty minutes after most of the fight was over, Suna winning with no casualties whatsoever and only a few serious wounds. Sakura quickly went through and healed the more pressing wounds, but otherwise it looked like they weren't really needed for this fight. It wasn't the massive invasion that was reported to happen against Suna, Sakura knew that for sure. There wasn't near enough enemies to qualify for a full-scale invasion by Rock. Before she could really think of what was going on, the rest of her team showed up with Gaara in tow.

He had grown a lot since the last time she saw him. He now towered over her like all the other males in her life, and had a broader chest than last time. He had finally started getting a tan, and the black surrounding his eyes was less harsh. He was wearing the same type of clothes he had started wearing when he became Kazekage. She gave him a warm smile as she dusted off her clothes and walked towards the small group, surprised when he returned it. The other sand siblings joined the group as well by the time she reached them.

XX

Sasuke wished that there was some more Rock-nin that he could take his frustrations out on, because he didn't think it would be a good idea to fight the Kazekage. It wouldn't look good for him to attack his village's ally after they were sent over to help them. He saw the lust that had entered Gaara's eyes when he saw Sakura, and he hated to admit that it was pissing him off. And here he thought the dobe was the only one immature enough to have these emotions. Dammit.

Sakura finished healing a Sand-nin and made her way over towards them. He saw her give one of her heart-stopping smiles, and almost smirked until he realized it was directed towards Gaara. Sasuke's smirk quickly turned into a scowl. Sakura wasn't supposed to smile at anybody else like that but _him_. She stopped in between him and Naruto, her two cats lying down behind her. She had grown a lot to be able to keep up with their pace last night, and she hardly look winded. Even after a hard trip running all the way here and the quick battle, Sakura still smelt like cherry blossoms and vanilla. He still remembered that when he was away from the village during the spring he would smell the cherry blossom trees and always thing of her.

"Hey Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, how have all of you been?" Sakura asked, walking up and giving each of them a hug as she said their names. Since when did Sakura get so close to the sand siblings? And when did Gaara start allowing people to actually touch him?!

"We've been doing alright, what about you Sakura-chan? Tsunade said you were off training and you just disappear for three years. We were really worried, especially Gaara." Temari said as she winked at her younger brother, who just glared at her before rolling his eyes.

"Hey, I missed you too gorgeous. I've been waiting for you to come back and marry me for years now." Kankuro said as he blew a kiss towards her. Sakura just laughed.

"Oh that, well I felt like I just needed to get away from Konoha and on my own for a while. Sorry I didn't keep in touch with all of you."

Sasuke saw red when she went back over to Gaara and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and another hug before she walked over to Temari again. He had to count to ten to keep from leaping over and attacking Gaara, and then shaking some sense into Sakura. She shouldn't encourage other guys to want her, she was meant for _him_ and only _him_!

"Well I haven't had breakfast yet so unless we need to do something important here can we eat then discuss everything later okay?" Sakura said as she linked arms with Temari and they started heading deeper into the city, not waiting for a reply. All the guys just followed the girls, Naruto and Gaara talking quietly to each other and catching up. Kakashi was once again reading his Icha Icha book, and Kankuro was listening to the girl's conversation, so Sasuke just put his hands in his pocket and quietly followed everyone, all the while thinking of all the ways he could enjoy torturing Gaara. They needed a rematch from the Chunnin exams anyways.

XX

After a peaceful breakfast discussion turned towards the latest disturbing events. Everyone agreed that something was wrong about the whole situation with the village Hidden in the Rock. The information said that a full-scale attack was expected against Suna, yet they only sent a miniscule portion of their army to fight.

Sakura stated something about it being a way to test Suna's defenses before the major attack, and try and find weaknesses in it. Everyone agreed that that was probably what happened. It also appeared that the Rock Village was now working with Akatsuki, and that only meant trouble. If a war started in-between Rock and Sand, another Great Ninja War would be close behind, that was a definite. That was the reason Tsunade was so adamant about sending help as soon as possible to try and help prevent a war from starting. The council had become even more lazy and difficult to deal with lately, and the military forces of Konoha were suffering because of it. It was not well-known knowledge, but Konoha was very vulnerable to a full-scale war attack right now, even with the dozen or so phenomenal ninjas in the village to protect it. It just wouldn't be able to mobilize fast enough to adequately protect Konoha.

The group talked for another hour or so strategizing about what they should do, until it was decided that Team 7 would stay for a week to help scout the area and try and find information about Rock. A hawk was sent to Tsunade to update her, and then Gaara had a servant show everyone where they would be staying at while they were there.

XX

**Alright guys, I'm getting a bad case of writer's block. I don't really have a lot of time to focus on the story right now, and I'm not really happy with this chapter here. I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get ready to move next week, and I think this story is definitely suffering for it. So what I'm going to do is tell you up front, I won't update til at least after NEXT Friday. I'm so sorry for that, but it's just to give you a heads up to everyone who checks it every day, which I think ya'll are amazing by the way. If you have any ideas you want to see in the story feel free to send them my way, it may help jumpstart my brain. Please review and I'll try and update as soon as I can. **


	14. Tease

**First off, I want to apologize to all of my faithful readers for taking a horrid amount of time to finally post this chapter. I have no excuse other than that my classes are kicking my ass this year. Tell you the rest at the end of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just this story. **

Sasuke stared at the stars in the sky as he thought about how he felt for Sakura. Sure, she was beautiful, smart, and apparently strong now, but why was he jealous when she smiled at Gaara? Uchihas weren't supposed to be uncertain about anything, much less about a girl. Well a woman anyways. Her body was definitely all woman now. He wanted her to be the mother of his children, and it would definitely not be a hardship to bed her, but was that the main reason for his feelings for her? She wasn't unaffected by him, yet she was putting up a hell of a fight to say otherwise. A dramatic change from the previous number one fan girl she used to be. If he wanted to be completely honest with himself he would admit that her fighting him now turned him on a lot. Apparently dominating her was his new favorite thing to do. He smirked at that thought.

The temperature had dramatically dropped after the sun set, and Sasuke was distracted by his thoughts by watching the little cloud puffs he made every time he exhaled. He remembered when he would always look up at the stars like this with Sakura and Naruto when they were on missions when he was still a kid. Those were the few times when he felt at peace with the world, knowing that his two friends and Kakashi were all there with him. Looking back now he realized that he always thought about them as his family after the massacre. Naruto was more of a brother to him then Itachi ever was. That's probably the reason why he couldn't kill him all those times they met and fought through the years. Who could have imagined that the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja could become so strong as well? He would become the Hokage someday soon. That was still a scary thought.

With a sigh Sasuke sat up and looked to his right, at the window that was cracked open to let the cold air into Sakura's room. It was after midnight right now, and no light was on in the room, so Sasuke figured she was asleep with her two cats somewhere close by. Sasuke still couldn't believe that she had managed to raise two wild panthers and train them as well as she had. He figured she may have a cat as a pet; she did like to cuddle things, but not have them as fighting partners. A smile graced his lips when he thought back on how those two almost killed Karin. That would have been funny to see. He could still hear Naruto's snoring, how anyone could make that much noise and still sleep was beyond him. When he left the room Naruto was curled up in the fetal position with drool coming out of his mouth.

Acting on impulse, Sasuke gracefully stood up and silently made his way towards Sakura's room, completely concealing his chakra as he went. With the stealth he was known for, he quietly opened the window and slipped through, closing it back to its previous position so the temperature wouldn't change and alert Sakura to his presence just yet. He activated his Sharingan so he could see, and scanned the room for Sakura, what he saw almost made his nose bleed and his pants became uncomfortably tight. Damn the girl and her effect on him.

Sakura was lying on top of the covers of the bed, with nothing on but a small see-through white tank top and a skimpy pair of underwear. Her hair was unbound and spread across her pillow like a pink halo around her head, some of the red tresses curling around her arms like vines. Her lips were slightly parted, begging Sasuke to kiss her and wake her up. The moonlight that filtered through the window touched a little of her skin and gave her an ethereal appearance, fading in and out of the shadows. It was all Sasuke could do not to pounce on her and ravish her. Feng and Charna were curled up next to each other at the end of the bed, lying right below Sakura's feet.

Sasuke knew that Sakura was still pissed at him, and the only way to make her give him the time of day now was to initiate the contact himself. With a smirk at the thought of the fun he was about to have, Sasuke made his way over to Sakura's bed. He glanced over towards the cats and saw that they each had one eye open looking at him. He motioned for them to be quiet and turned back to Sakura. Leaning one knee on the bed, he placed his hands on both sides of Sakura's head to hold his weight up. Wrapping one hand around her hair, Sasuke leaned down and kissed Sakura on her lips. Sasuke pulled his other leg up and balanced his weight on his knees, and used his other hand to frame Sakura's jaw and open it so his tongue could slip in. After a few seconds of hesitation she started to respond, shyly meeting his tongue with hers. A minute later Sasuke pulled back to look at her again.

Sakura had her eyes partially opened when he pulled away, giving her an even sexier look. Sasuke used his free hand and pushed the hair out of her face before he nuzzled her neck. Sakura's hand slid up over his arm and shoulder before she dug her fingers into his hair.

"Hey Sasuke," she purred in his ear, sending shivers down his spine.

"Yeah Baby?" Sasuke replied as he started kissing her neck, nipping it before kissing the rapidly appearing small red spots.

"Do you always creep into girls rooms in the middle of the night to molest them?" she asked, her voice never changing from her earlier tone.

Sasuke just smiled into her neck and continued with his previous activity. "No. You're my only victim. So what are you going to do about it Sa-ku-ra?" he asked.

"For starters kick your ass. What the hell are you doing in here anyways Sasuke? Naruto turned you down?"

Sasuke sat up and glared down at her, his eyes becoming even narrower when he spotted the smug smirk on her face.

"You've developed a mean streak since I've been gone Sakura. What's wrong? I thought you always wanted to sleep with me? I'll make sure you stay warm."

"Ugh. Don't remind me of the days I was young and dumb, living through it once was bad enough, thank you very much. And I don't need you to stay warm, that's why Charna and Feng are here for."

Sasuke leaned down and before Sakura could avoid him he kissed her again, taking her hard this time. He'd be damned if he got kicked out of her room tonight. For one it was his only chance at getting any sleep by staying here. Sakura was just going to have to get over her insecurities and past fears and accept him back into her life, and now her bed. Sasuke spread her legs even wider and slipped in between, using his weight to hold her down as he grabbed both of her delicate wrists with one hand and slammed them up above her head so she couldn't use her chakra strength to attack him.

Soon Sasuke's thoughts started to blur as her taste got to him. She tasted like strawberries, his tongue enjoying her taste while exploring and claiming every part of her mouth. He almost lost his control when she started to respond back, a moan coming out of the back of her throat. His free hand glided down her body to the bottom of her shirt, slipping under it and tracing her stomach. His hand went further up, dragging her shirt up along with it as his hand cupped her breast. When Sakura's body arched into his hand, Sasuke released her mouth and peppered kisses down her chin and neck. When his hand moved to remove her bra, Sakura's hand stopped him.

"Sasuke, I don't know what game you're playing, but I don't want any part of it. I suggest you stop and leave. Now."

Sasuke sighed before he glanced up at her. "How about I make a deal with you, okay? I can't sleep in the same room as Naruto and Kakashi, Naruto snores louder than a herd of elephant and Kakashi makes weird laughing noises when he's asleep. Let me sleep in here with you and I want bother you for right now, okay?"

Sakura just snorted at him. "Yeah right. Why should I let you have a good night of sleep after you just came in here and molested me? Get your ass back over to your room and do what I have to while we camp, cover my ears and pray for dawn."

Sasuke glared as he rose above Sakura, blocking her from moving while he glared down at her. "For one, you enjoyed my molesting you, you weren't exactly moaning in pain, and what makes you so special that you get to sleep when I can't. I suggest you let me sleep here unless you want me to 'persuade' you to see it my way. That would end up much more enjoyable for both of us and I guarantee that'll we'll both get a good night of sleep afterwards," Sasuke said as his eyes roamed her body hungrily once again.

Sakura just huffed at him and rolled her eyes. "Fine, but you stay on your side of the bed, and if you snore or keep me up I'm kicking your ass and making you go back to your room ok? Touch me and you'll regret it." With that said she slipped out from under him and rolled over to the far side of the bed, pulling half the covers over to her side and snuggling in with her back facing him.

Sasuke just smirked as he crawled under the covers as well, making sure that he didn't touch her. As much as he wanted her he didn't feel like a battle this late at night. That and it would look really bad if he got caught fighting Sakura in her own hotel room. The irony of that didn't escape him. Forcing himself to concentrate on his breathing, Sasuke slowly fell asleep soon after Sakura did, dreaming about her being a foot closer to him.

-XXX-

Sakura woke up slowly the next morning, luxuriating in the lazy feeling of being able to sleep in for once. The sun shined through her curtains, blinding her with the intolerable light even through her closed. Who the hell left the curtain open last night? Why did she have to have the room on the damn side the sun rose on?!

Blinking sleepily, Sakura cracked her eyes open and looked at the window. It was still early morning by the looks of things. After a few seconds Sakura's brain registered that she was slowly moving up and down, and either she had learned how to float, or she was laying on someone. Her body confirmed it as she finally acknowledged the warmth she felt throughout her entire body through the touch of the mysterious body so far. Hard muscles cushioned her slight weight, two hands wrapped around her lower body pressing her tightly to the obviously male body by the feel of it. Sakura was almost afraid to look, afraid she already knew who it was. With a deep breath for courage, Sakura peeked down at her sleeping companion and bite her tongue to keep from cursing out loud.

Sasuke was asleep underneath her. Sakura vaguely recalled him slipping in last night and molesting her, then asking to sleep in her room because of Naruto and Kakashi. What a load of bull. And obviously he didn't listen to the 'no touch' policy, although she couldn't say much seeing as that it was her that was on top of him.

Recalling what he did to her last night; Sakura had an evil idea form in her head. It was mean, cruel, guaranteed to piss him off, and absolutely perfect for payback. Hopefully this wouldn't backfire on her. Apparently he wasn't lying when he told her he was tired last night, because he was still sleeping deeply even with her squirming around on top of him to get off. With a silent command for Charna and Feng to leave the room, she pushed herself up into a sitting position as she looked at her soon-to-be-victim.

With a decidedly evil smile on her face, she traced the muscles of his chest with her right hand, her nail barely touching his skin to give it the desired feather-light touch. Getting closer, Sakura leaned her weight on her knees and left arm as she continued memorizing his muscles in the morning light. Even though she was pissed at him, she had to admit that the man had a body to die for. If only he didn't have the personality disorder and he would be perfect.

Becoming bolder, Sakura traced her fingers further down towards his hips, the sheet covering the rest of his lower body. Tracing little patterns across his six-pack abs, Sakura gulped trying to keep her courage up. She had never done anything like this, so she was praying to Kami that she didn't screw this up too bad. Glancing up to his face to make sure he was still asleep, Sakura slowly dragged the sheet further down until she dropped it at the end of the bed.

Looking down at his shorts, Sakura smirked at the sight of a definite bulge under them. So the saying that guys woke up happy was true. Gingerly she hooked her fingers through the top of his shorts and slowly pulled them down until Sasuke was exposed. Sakura's eyes were huge as she stared at him. Damn he was big! Sakura once again questioned her sanity at trying to pull this off, but she had already come this far so she mine as well go all the way.

With constantly glancing up at his face to see if he was awake, Sakura slowly reached out with her hand and glided her fingernail lightly down his shaft, amazed at the look of it. His mushroomed head was an angry red color, with a small drop of white liquid spilling out of the slit at the top. Sakura swiped the liquid off with one finger and rubbed it down his shaft.

Keeping an eye on him and mentally checking his vitals to make sure he was still asleep, Sakura fisted her hand around him and slowly pumped up and down. He slowly started to grow harder after a minute, and his breathing was starting to falter a little bit. Sakura increased her pace a little as she moved closer to him. Knowing he was getting close to waking up, Sakura released him and crawled in between his legs, placing her hands on both sides of his stomach to hold her weight up. Leaning down, she slowly licked the liquid that had once again started to leak out of the top of his shaft.

Sakura started licking him like he was her favorite ice-cream cone, and she would never admit it but she was easily becoming addicted to his taste with every swipe of her tongue. She ignored the blush heating her cheeks as she stared at Sasuke's face. Sakura stuck her tongue out and licked Sasuke from base to head, sucking the head into her mouth and gently nibbling on it. She felt the moment Sasuke finally woke up, his thigh muscles tensed and he grabbed a handful of her hair.

Sakura looked up and saw Sasuke open his eyes, the Sharingan spinning slowly as he looked down and watched himself slowly slide in and out of her mouth. Sakura felt her blush heat up her cheeks to where her face felt like it was on fire but chose to ignore it, at least for a few more minutes.

Sasuke's breathing started to become uneven and ragged as Sakura slowly adjusted to the rhythm of his hips thrusting into her mouth. She finally got use to the weird feeling of him in the back of her throat, getting over her gag reflex as well. Sakura felt him get even harder and knew he was close to cumming. She felt guilt swamp her as she thought of what she was about to do, but she ignored it as well as the annoying unwanted desire to go all the way with this.

When Sasuke's body started to have almost unnoticeable trembles go through his body, Sakura knew it was time. In the blink of an eye, she pulled away from Sasuke, grabbed a change of spare clothes sitting on top of her bag, and hauled ass into the bathroom. She quickly locked the door and placed a jutsu over the room so that Sasuke couldn't get in. She heard him cussing very loudly and colorfully from the other room, and quickly started running the water as he hit the door a few times, yelling for her to come out. Yep, he was beyond pissed. Good, that's payback for what he did last night.

Sakura stripped out of her pajamas and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water beat down on her. She knew Sasuke was in pain now, anyone would when they were that close and then suddenly had to stop. She hoped he got blue balls. After about thirty minutes of hiding in the shower, she finally got out and dried herself off. When she wasted as much time as possible in the bathroom getting dressed and doing her hair three times, she finally decided it was time to come out. Sasuke's chakra signal was still there, but seems muted, so she guessed he wasn't quite as angry as he was thirty minutes ago. Taking a deep breath to get her confidence back, she released the jutsu and opened the door.

-XXX-

Sasuke woke up to an amazing feeling going through his entire body. He felt light-headed, and realized all his blood had traveled to the south to where his dream was happening. Opening his eyes, Sasuke looked down and knew he was dreaming. Sakura was giving him a blow job, little Miss Touch Me and Die. He must have done something damn good in a past life to deserve this.

He may be stubborn but he sure as hell wasn't stupid and grabbed a fist full of her hair so she wouldn't disappear. He felt his Sharingan activate as he stared hungrily at her. If he thought for a second that this was how she would wake him up, he would have forced her to share her bed with him ages ago. Her mouth was like fire, and tight as hell. The pleasure was so intense it balanced on the thin line between pleasure and pain.

Sasuke was helpless to stop his body from thrusting up to meet her mouth, his body starting to tremble with the effort to hold back. Even though she was inexperienced she still was doing a kick ass job, and Sasuke had a funny feeling that he was the first she had ever done this for. That lead him to the thought of _why _was she doing this? Last night she told him not to touch her, yet this morning she wakes him up by a blowjob?

Before Sasuke could try and figure out the answer, a little trick she did with her tongue brought him crashing back to his body. He felt trembles start to go through his body and knew he was close. He became even harder and with a few more strokes he would come. Just when he was about to go over the edge, she stopped. What the fuck?

By the time his heated brain processed she was gone, the bathroom door had just slammed closed. That's when it clicked in his brain. The bitch!!! Who the fuck did she think she was messing with? With one lunge he was out of bed and banging on the door. He sensed that she had put a jutsu on the door to keep him out.

"Dammit Sakura, get your ass back out here! You need to fucking finish what you started!" Sasuke yelled at the closed door.

With a few more choice words Sasuke went and sat back on the bed, noticing that her two overgrown cats were gone. Sasuke ran his hand through his hair, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. Son of a bitch this hurt like hell. He refused to touch himself though and finish the job. Hell no, she started this, and _she_ was going to fucking finish it.

After about ten minutes of swearing silently in his head, Sasuke had finally calmed down just enough to come up with a better plan the beat the door down and ravish her against the shower wall. He absolutely refused to think of what she looked like in the shower right now, it would definitely not help his current situation.

When he heard the shower finally shut off, he faced the door and if Sakura could see the predatory look in his eyes, she would have never left the bathroom. Sasuke knew she liked what she was doing; she wasn't a good enough actress or had enough sexual experience to fake that. Now it was just time to turn her body against her, because he knew she wanted him, almost as bad as he wanted her. He covered his chakra so it would seem like he was calm, so Sakura would feel secure and also so he wouldn't alert Kakashi and Naruto to what was going on in here. When Sakura finally opened the door after what felt like an eternity, Sasuke pounced, slamming her body up against the wall as his lips crashed onto hers.

**BAM! BAM! BAM!**

"Hey Sakura-chan! Wake up! Breakfast is ready and we have to be at a meeting in thirty minutes." Naruto yelled through the door.

"Hurry up, we have to find Teme too, he's disappeared again."

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he swore that the first chance he got he was going to kill that dobe. First steal all of the ramen from him, then stomp him into the ground before he tears him apart, then let Kakashi's dogs eat what's left.

Sakura leaned into his chest to muffle her laughter spilling out of her lips, sending shivers throughout all of Sasuke's body. Sasuke couldn't resist running his hand through her hair, messing it up from where she had wasted time in the bathroom styling it while avoiding him.

Sasuke leaned his head down into the crook of Sakura's neck and nipped at where her shoulder connected to it, leaving a faint red bite-mark. After that he reluctantly let her go, knowing they didn't have time for anything now, at least not for what he had in mind.

"Get dressed Sasuke, wouldn't want everyone to know how…sad you really are." Sakura murmured as she fixed her hair and started walking towards the door.

Sasuke grabbed her wrist as she walked by him. "Trust me baby, you and me both know there isn't anything 'sad' about me in any way, shape, or form, except for me not being inside you. That's the ONLY thing that is sad."

Sakura just rolled her eyes as she walked through the door, waving her hand in his direction indicating for him to hurry up.

Sasuke banged his head on the wall in frustration, and then ran to the bathroom for a cold shower to help him calm down before he had to go face the rest of his team. He could hear Sakura's laughter through the walls as she walked down the hallway. She was so going to pay for this.

Sasuke dried off and got dressed, and calmly made his way downstairs. When he reached the open room that everyone was at, he saw that they had just finished eating breakfast and the meeting was about to begin. Gaara was sitting at the head of the table, staring at Sakura as she nibbled on some toast and fed a few pieces to her two cats sitting at her feet.

Taking the seat across Sakura, Sasuke grabbed a drink and leaned back in his chair as everyone came to attention.

"Glad you could finally show up Uchiha, now we can begin with the meeting." Gaara said as he looked at everyone present.

"We need two of you to go on an intel-mission around our borders to see if you can find out any plans that Stone may have. Sakura is one of the obvious choices since she can try and seduce information out of our targets, and we need someone to go with her, any volunteers?"

**So I figured I should get this story rolling and earning its stripes to be rated M. To honestly tell you the truth one reason that motivated me to finish this chapter was that so many of the other stories are just so annoying I can't even finish reading them, and I was like someone needs to write at least a decent version every now and then, and I hope my falls in that category. It was hard for me to write this chapter because when I was done with it the first time, my computer crashed and deleted everything I had, including about a month's worth of lecture notes for ALL of my classes, three days before 3 of my major tests. Then when I tried to rewrite it I just couldn't get it to go how I wanted it to, trust me, some of the tries got violent and it wasn't pretty. **

**Also lately I have fallen in love with Twilight, so I've been obsessed with reading that fanfiction. If you haven't read it I would definitely recommend it. **

**I hope this was a good holiday surprise for everyone, and I'm going to do better about updating. I do have to say though that I have my final exams coming up in 2 weeks, and then I have an Accounting test and a placement test, and an essay I have to write so that I can apply to Terry College at UGA. That is so kicking my ass. I'll do my best though, and reviews always help motivate me, not angry ones though. Work on my guilt, it's more effective. **


	15. Mission

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, I only own this story.**

The village was similar to Konoha, except more haggard and tense. The people were all dressed in dark faded garbs; many tattered around the edges, proof of their hard lives as much as the lines that creased their faces. Hardly any vegetation graced the surrounding area, mainly just rocky soil that didn't bare any of the life saving food.

Sakura suppressed a shudder and wrapped her jacket closer to her, trying to fight off the cold trying to creep into her. She felt Charna snuggle up to her, fitting into one of the hidden inside pockets. She was the same size now as when Sakura first found her. They had discovered after they were full grown that with a simple jutsu they could return back to their kitten form, very handy in missions like this. Feng had opted to stay behind and help the quote "bumbling morons" around the village in case of a surprise attack while she was gone. Charna just said it was because his lazy ass didn't like the snow.

She glanced to her right and saw Kakashi slowly looking at the surrounding people, measuring each for their fighting skills and dismissing most of them as pathetic. He was the most logical choice to go on this mission, seeing as he had the dog-nins who could deliver his messages for him quickly and without drawing attention. Many of the male ninja had volunteered to help Sakura on this mission, surprisingly even Sasuke offered. He had a hard look in his eyes that Sakura didn't recognize, and just wrote it off as him pissed that he wouldn't be doing anything for a while. He never did like to be out of a fight, and he said Naruto was the immature one. HA!

Sakura couldn't help the tiny, immeasurable, and really inconsequential tremor and warmth that went through her body at the thought of Sasuke. She refused to become the little girl she used to be that dreamed about him and lusted after him, although back then it was much more innocent than it was now. She knew he didn't love her, and that was what was able to keep her barriers strong against him. He only wanted her because she was the strongest in the village now, she was decent looking, and was familiar with him and his personality problems. But he didn't love her, and lust wasn't enough to go on in a relationship. She was proud of herself really. A few years ago, any attention from him would have been treasured like gold, now she was slightly insulted that he thought a little attention and a kiss or two would make her just fall into being his own personal baby-maker. Don't get her wrong, she wanted kids, several in fact, but she wanted them to be born from a loving relationship like her parents had, where you knew they loved each other.

She didn't even entertain the thought that she could make him love her, because that would just be falling into his plans, and he was always good at making people believe something that wasn't there. For how unemotional he was he was fairly decent at faking things. With a quick shake of her head Sakura forced the thoughts away and focused again on the mission.

They saw a tall building towards the center of the village, and made their way towards it. It was old, looked drafty, and would be their base for the next two days. Great. Just great.

Was fate determined to keep her out of a comfortable bed? I mean really.

Sakura meekly followed Kakashi into the establishment, automatically falling into her roll of a shy female slave. It left a bitter taste in her mouth, but she handled it. After getting keys to the room from a withering old woman who was on the wrong side of the hill, the pair slowly made their way up the stairs to their room they were sharing.

She glared in the corners, certain there were rats in this so called establishment. She hated rats. Maybe Charna would be used for this too. She would feed herself and get rid of the rat infestation at the same time. Perfect idea!

"Sakura, head out of the clouds. Mine as well go and get changed, we will go visit the tavern in an hour, so make sure you're ready. I'll go out into the village and see if I hear anything, then come back to pick you up okay?" Kakashi asked as he started walking back towards the door, not even bothering to wait for a reply.

Sakura made her way over to the bathroom, and quickly jumped into the shower to wash off the day's dust and sweat from traveling. Drying off, Sakura looked at the new clothes she was given just for this night. It was a smooth silk kimono, a mix between a light pink and purple, with Cherry Blossom petals circling the hem of the sleeves and the bottom of the robe. The cross stitches on the side were a darker purple, as was the wide ribbon belt that surrounded her waist and tied into a big bow in the back, twin ribbons falling down to almost touching the ground behind her. She wore dark purple shorts underneath to make sure that nothing showed through the sheer-like fabric, and wore 3 inch purple heels. For some accessories to set the kimono off she wore a sliver chain with a small cherry blossom flower dangling from it, and had a matching fan to help cover up her face and make her look shy or seductive when she needed to be. She pulled her hair back into a high bun, with two purple chopsticks with pink flower petals circling them holding it up, with her bangs framing her face and giving her a more exotic look.

Inside the chopsticks were sebons just in case she needed them, but other than that she was unarmed. She didn't want to give herself away by carrying weapons, and besides, she could easily kill one of the others and use their weapons in the worst case scenario.

Sakura put on a light layer of makeup, mainly just mascara and a clear lip-gloss, which actually had poison in it, so anyone who kissed her tonight would find it would be their last, because just a small amount was enough to kill a full grown male ninja, and the only antidote was a jutsu Sakura knew. She was immune to her own poison obviously, and Charna and Feng were the only others also immune. She put a light coat of pink nail polish on, also made with the same kind of poison used in her lip-gloss.

When she finally looked in the mirror to see the finished product, Sakura had to admit she was impressed. With a transformation jutsu she made her hair a deep midnight black, and her eyes were a gray blue. No one could ever guess that the prim and proper lady in the mirror was one Sakura Haruno. She looked very elegant and sexy, with a hint of mystique when she put the fan up to cover the lower half of her face, with only her eyes showing above it. She was now physically ready for the mission, and positive that she could get any man that she needed to.

Mentally on the other hand Sakura was freaking out. Her first kiss was with Sasuke yesterday, and she had no experience with seducing men. Sure she had read it in her text books during the academy, and while training with Tsunade she had to go through several courses about how to seduce information out of a target, but theory was a little different then practice. What if she messed up and showed her disgust for the guys, and blew her cover? Suna was depending on her and Kakashi to get the valuable information they needed from Stone.

Sakura picked Charna up and snuggled her to her chest, gaining comfort from the soothing purring. Taking a few more calming breaths she walked over towards the door to greet Kakashi as he was walking through. He paused a minute to look her over, before his eye crinkled in approval.

His hair was a light brown and flattened, reminding her of Sai's hair style, with his normal eye green and a small black eye patch covering his other one. He was dressed in civilian clothes, wearing a pair of dark trousers and a matching shirt and jacket. He would blend in with the crowd perfectly, looking like he had some money, but not significantly richer than most travelers.

The plan was to infiltrate the tavern that all of the main heads of Stone frequented, eating dinner and hopefully Sakura would be asked to entertain them. They were known to randomly pick out women from the crowd that they found beautiful and force them to sing and dance for them, other times if they were pretty enough she would be forced to service one of them, if not all. Just the thought of it made Sakura want to kill them. She couldn't imagine the horror and helpless feeling that the women these men had raped had felt, and it sickened her that the men were able to get away with it.

Kakashi offered her his arm and they made their way down the steps towards the tavern, Charna perched on top of Kakashi's shoulder for the time being, so that she could help Sakura and Kakashi communicate with each other, and being so small she would hide in his robes and not draw attention to herself before they entered. Giving her arm a small squeeze for encouragement, Kakashi helped her through the door and towards a table he had reserved earlier while he was out.

It was all Sakura could do not to start coughing and gagging when she entered the place. A cloud of smoke blanketed the place, giving everything an almost blurry look. And the smell was awful; on top of the smoke was also the smell of cheap liquor, sex, and just downright filth from some of the unwashed bodies crowed inside. A small bar was on the left side, overflowing with rowdy men drinking as fast and as much as they could, yelling at each other and leering at the waitresses.

On the right side were a few wooden tables with matching chairs, and some booths along the edge. The people on this side were just as rowdy and drunk, only a few actually eating food here. Sakura didn't have high hopes on getting a good meal out of this place. In the far right hand corner booth were the ones she was looking for, all very well dressed for this area, but only one step above the rest in behavior, which put them right there below slum.

Sakura made sure to catch their eyes subtly before she turned away and looked towards Kakashi, a fake blush on her cheeks to make the illusion she was shy and innocent more pronounced.

She could feel the stares on her back, and several other men in the establishment were eyeing her, some more obvious than others. After giving their orders to a tall redheaded waitress, a big burly man approached them. He had tattoos all across his huge biceps, yellow teeth, and a scar that ran across his face starting from the left side of his chin and going all the way across to the right side of his forehead. He rudely sat down at their table as he cast lustful eyes on Sakura.

Kakashi felt instantly protective, but refrained from doing anything, as that wouldn't help the mission. He had to remain calm, especially since he already knew Sakura was nervous as hell about this mission.

He was one of the few who knew she had never done one of these types of missions, which is one of the reasons he volunteered to come. He figured he could help her get through it easier and not overreact like the others might. Looking at the big man in front of them, Kakashi was unsure if this situation would help them or hurt them.

"Now what is a pretty thing like you doing in here with someone like this weakling" the man said as he cast Kakashi a disgusted glare before turning his attention back to Sakura.

"She is my slave, and she goes anywhere I do. Do you have a problem with that?" Kakashi said, drawing the attention back to him. He noticed that the bar was quieting down, where several had stopped to stare at their table and listen in on the conversation. Apparently this was the "tough guy" of the bar and was the strongest bully in the place, and also the low lives' leader. Quite pathetic really. But he wasn't the one they wanted.

"Well as a matter of fact I," He was cut off as one of the body guards for the leaders came up. He was a tall man covered in scars, a thick beard covering half of his face, muscles bulging from his arms as he glared the other man off. He then turned his beady eyes towards Kakashi, flickering over to leer at Sakura for just a second.

"You and your… pet have been honored with a request from my boss to join their table. If you will follow me this way." He said, then turned and walked back towards the leader, expecting them both to immediately follow him to the table.

Sakura gracefully stood up with the help of Kakashi, and they slowly made their way over to the table, both praying that this worked.

XXX

Sasuke was steaming. After all the build up this morning, then for them to send Sakura away on a mission without him, it was driving him crazy. Not to mention that he felt like killing half of the male population at Suna who would star at Sakura as she walked by.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was on all of their minds, because Sasuke was having the same type of thoughts. And his were even more graphic because he had seen some of her. He knew what her petal-soft skin felt like, how she tasted as she kissed him, how her eyes glazed over when she was turned on…

"Dammit!" Sasuke hissed as he threw another kunai at the mutilated tree. He had been releasing his frustrations all day by training. Naruto left a few hours ago so he wouldn't get too hurt or tired to participate in the battles to come. Sasuke didn't care right now, he felt like his whole body was full of anger and frustration, and since there weren't any enemies around, this was the next best thing.

It grated on his nerves that Kakashi was chosen to escort her on this mission. At least Sasuke knew that Kakashi would protect Sakura with his life, just like he himself would.

**BOOM!!!**

"What the fuck was that?" Sasuke said as he started running in the direction the explosion came from. He was half way to the front gate of Suna when he felt it – Sakura's chakra. With a burst of speed even impressive for him, and forced himself to his limit as he rushed towards her. He vaguely registered that all of Suna was running towards the entrance to the city as well.

What he saw when he got there made him full of rage. Sakura's clothes were torn, leaving just a few scraps to keep her modesty. Cuts covered her body, running down in streams from the deeper ones. She had both her katana out cutting down the enemies as soon as they came into range. Next to her was her cat Charna, viciously attacking any enemy stupid enough to try and go after Sakura's back. She too was bleeding pretty heavily from looked like a stab wound in her stomach. Kakashi was in between the two passed out, and Sasuke could see the major wounds around his chest and stomach area.

A battalion of ninjas from Stone surround the trio, and with each one the two females slashed down, two more popped up.

It wasn't equal skill that was wearing the couple down, it was the sheer numbers. It almost looked like this was the entire enemy army.

Without another thought, Sasuke jumped into the fight, quickly making his way towards Sakura, slaughtering everything that got in his path. He saw Sakura start to slow down and weakly block an attack.

Her body was trembling, and her breathing was highly erratic. Sasuke doubled his efforts, knowing she was about to pass out.

**XXX**

Sakura silently cursed her luck as she ran from Stone, Kakashi slung over her back as Charna followed close behind. She had her katanas in each hand, but hadn't had time to change her kimono for her fighting clothes. She was weakening, from channeling her chakra into Kakashi to keep him alive, trying to regulate her own body to keep from passing out from blood loss, and also from fighting the endless enemy ninja attacking.

She was also fighting the effects of a poison that affected the chakra systems, making them slowly shut down and become unusable.

It was an unwanted surprise for Sakura and Kakashi when while dealing with their targets, the club was attacked by some bandits sent to take the leaders out. The gas bombs they threw in made Sakura and Kakashi's images flicker for a few seconds, revealing them as spies. Then all hell broke loose.

Kakashi was stabbed from behind while facing off three others, and went down hard. Sakura barely was able to grab him and make it out of there, running through the snow towards Suna at full speed.

Apparently it didn't take the others long to figure out what happened, because it felt like the entire Stone army came out and chased them.

After running an hour straight at full speed, Suna started coming into sight. Picking up speed, Sakura prayed she could get there in time, pushing her tired body to the limit.

About a mile away, the fatigue of her body finally caught up to her and she slowly started faltering in her pace, stumbling a few steps. This one wrong move allowed her enemy to surround her, blocking her from safety.

Without another thought, Sakura gently placed Kakashi down on the ground behind her, and Charna changed back into her full size, also using her mind link to call for help from Feng.

With their backs to each other, the blood bath began. Each ninja foolish enough to get close felt either Sakura's blades or Charna's claws.

But even with all the power both had, they were tiring out and quickly. The blood pooling at their feet wasn't just the enemies.

After what felt like the thousandth attack, Sakura weakly blocked a sword attack, her arms trembling to remain pressure on the blade. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another coming at her to attack, but didn't have the strength to push her current enemy off of her to counter.

Bracing herself for the hit, she waited a few seconds before opening her eyes again, only to find that both men had been cut down. She felt a muscled arm grab her by the waist, dragging her towards Charna and Kakashi. She weakly tried to fight her captor, but her body was against her. The world slowly started spinning, fading in on itself as the blackness consumed her, and she fell limp.

**Sorry for the freakin long wait. I've had a crazy year so far. Test every week, got in a wreck yesterday, and still had to go take a test. Computer completely crashed and had to send it end for two weeks to get it fixed. Basically nothing is going right. So as I'm on pain meds right now from the crash, I finally finished this chapter. Excuse the mistakes, I'll go back over it later to fix them. Please remember to review, I absolutely love reading them. **


	16. Save Me

**Disclosure: I don't own Naruto, just this story. **

Abuki stood frozen in fear as he watched the scene play out in front of him. He knew trouble was approaching Suna when he felt all of the chakra signals hurtling this way, and he raised the alarm to warn the entire village for an attack. He was shocked however when the approaching army seemed more interested in attacking what looked like a small pink dot. The dot got bigger and turned into a slim kunoichi, carrying a man on her back and a panther flanking her side. She was quickly surrounded by her pursuers, blocking her off from the village. She laid her charge down on the ground, facing her attackers head on.

She possessed an ungodly strength, creating craters with her fist when she couldn't fight off all the enemies. Covered in blood though, she was fading fast. Her movements were starting to look sluggish, her reaction times slowing down to where she started taking several devastating blows. Even then she was destroying an amazing amount of the enemy ninja, wiping most out like they were toys. That's when he felt it, an unholy power was coming from behind him, and actually two were. Looking around, he almost collapsed in fear as he saw the infamous Sasuke Uchiha followed by Naruto Uzumaki racing towards the battle, looking like a blur even to his trained eye. Sasuke was covered in black markings around his entire body, a black fire made from chakra surrounding him. What looked like orange flames covered Naruto's body, forming what looked like 3 tails behind him. His eyes were feral, the whisker markings on his face more prominent, his mouth curled up into a snarl to show fangs, and his hands curled into looking like claws.

Both went by without any notice of him or his teammate Chico. A huge tremor of relief went through him though as they passed, both had blood lust in their eyes, and anyone could see that whoever got in their way right now would die swiftly with no questions asked.

As the pink haired warrior finally went down after taking another devastating blow to her stomach, the sky turned pitch black, lightening the only source of light as it angrily pummeled the ground. Screams from the dying men echoed across the desert as the lightening seemed to be attracted to them and struck them down where they stood.

Abuki watched in awe as Sasuke and Naruto came together and created a combined attack, Naruto's Rasengan strengthening Sasuke's chidori as it surrounded his katana, and half of the enemy fell in one swipe as the powerful blast cut through them like butter.

Before they could reach Sakura though, her and her two companions disappeared, no trace of them in sight.

Abuki turned and ran for the gates, hiding behind the massive door as he peaked through the cracks to watch what happened next.

With cries coming from both Konoha ninjas that would make even the most seasoned shinobi tremble in fear, another blast of energy escaped from them, wiping out the rest of the enemy army. It was unbelievable, that massive army, which would have been a brutal fight between all of Suna, was destroyed by three people in only a matter of minutes.

The lightening from the sky hit the ground again spreading out across the entire battle field , and all of the bodies caught on fire as they burned, turning to ash within seconds.

Feeling another powerful presence, Abuki looked to his right and saw the Kazekage look on in fascination at the two. He remembered hearing rumors about when all of them were genins, how Gaara had fought both of them, but only Naruto was a challenge after Gaara defeated Sasuke.

As disrespectful as it was to even think it, Abuki knew that not even Gaara had a chance against either of them now. He couldn't think of anyone who could even be a challenge at the moment.

Among the wreckage, a panther identical to the one with Sakura appeared, a mournful cry spilling from its mouth as it quickly circled the battle field, appearing as if it was smelling for the scents of the missing fighters.

It stopped when it reached the spot where the three last were, and then started racing back towards the forest where they first came from.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly followed behind, obviously in search for their missing teammates. When all three of them disappeared from sight, Abuki felt his consciousness slowly slip away from the after-effects going through his body because of having just the waves from the energy going through him and around him; his body wasn't strong enough to remain awake.

**XXX**

Sakura woke up with a vicious headache, but otherwise was perfectly fine. She could feel how all of her previous wounds had already half-healed, and half of her chakra was restored.

Sitting up, she brought a hand to her head to ease her headache, as well as catch her breath so she didn't pass out from the nausea that swamped her for moving too fast. When it passed she looked towards her right, were she saw her sensei healing Charna. Behind them Kakashi peacefully rested under a tree, all of his previous wounds nowhere in sight.

Pushing herself up off the ground, Sakura made her way towards Charna, quickly helping heal the wounds on her body. When that was finished, Sakura wiped the sweat off of her forehead and sat back down, finally glancing over to look at her savior.

"Well I didn't expect to see you this soon Akasde – sensei, but thank you."

Akasde glanced up at her, a small smile forming on his lips.

"You never can stay out of trouble can you Sakura? I leave you for one week, one week, and already you have an army after you, and almost die. Have I taught you nothing girl?" he responded teasingly as he grabbed his canteen of water and brought it to Sakura. She took it gratefully and swallowed a few sips before replacing the cap on it and handing it back.

"So what happened? All I remember was being surrounded and then waking up here. And where did you come from?" Sakura questioned.

"Well news travels fast when you have that large of a group traveling in pursuit of a few people across a country, one supposedly having pink hair and another is a panther. Obviously you are the only person who has pink hair and a panther, so I knew you were in trouble. And I can't let my star pupil die against such rift raft. So I came to help out. When I got here you had already killed about seven hundred of them on your trip, but it was starting to show. You left a very big mess of soldiers in your trail here. Your movements had already slowed down, and you had sustained a few major wounds, bleeding heavily to further your exhaustion. It also didn't help that you couldn't move from your spot for protecting your friend here, so I just grabbed all three of you and transported you here. Now your turn, what were you doing in an enemy village in the first place, and why were you protecting this man? You should only have been back in your village for a day or two at most."

"I was on a mission. Stone was preparing to start a war with Suna, and Tsunade ordered me and my old team to come here and try and prevent that. If a war was to break out now, it would suck in all of the major hidden villages, and Leaf just can't handle a war right now. We don't have the necessary manpower or resources to compete. The damn elders have Tsunade's hands tied, and she can't do anything but this to help. Me and Kakashi – sensei were sent to Stone as intel, but while there a group of rogues attacked, and blew our cover. By that time we had already learned when, where, and how they planned to attack Suna, so they knew they had to kill us. I was barely able to grab our supplies and leave before the real attacks began. They got Kakashi from behind when he was fighting others, and Charna got cut helping him. I was able to carry Kakashi half the way after he collapsed, and fought off anyone who tried to come after us. Then it seemed like the entire Stone army showed up and started following. And obviously you know the rest." Sakura explained her story as she took her hair down and started to loosely re-braid it. Looking down at her tattered clothes, she sighed as she tried to rearrange them to give her more cover.

Before he could say anything, Akasde felt three chakra signals closing in on them fast. He knew one of them was Feng, but the other two he didn't know. Not wanting to reveal himself yet, he quickly turned back to Sakura.

"Two unknown people and Feng are headed this way. I'll leave you here if you no longer require my assistance. I still have a few more things to do before I make the trip to visit you in Konoha. Will you be okay alone?"

"Yes Akasde-sensei, the two others are my teammates I was telling you about. A lot of things have changed that I need to update you about. I'll catch up with you next time though. I can feel the anger off those two, so it'll probably prevent a fight if you leave. Thanks again for your help."

"Anytime Sakura, you know where I am if you need me. Tell Feng and Charna when she wakes up that I said hello." And with that Akasde disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving no trace of his presence behind.

With a heavy sigh, Sakura stood up again and stretched her sore muscles, then turned and waited on Naruto and Sasuke to show up.

A few seconds later, Feng landed in the middle of the clearing, followed by her two friends. Sakura's eyebrow rose as she noticed that both boys were transformed into their curse seal and demon form, each covered in blood to make them look like they came out of a nightmare. With a small smile on her face she walked towards them.

Feng quickly walked up to her and nuzzled her hand, silently asking if she was alright. With a quick nod of her head in answer, Feng left her to go check on his sister.

**XXX**

When Naruto jumped into the clearing, he was shocked to see Sakura standing up looking at them, no major injury in sight. He could still smell her blood in the clearing, a small pool over towards the side proving she had had a major wound, yet now she looked perfectly healthy, if weakened severely.

He felt his anger and blood lust quickly disappear as him and Sasuke walked towards her. Teme still looked upset, but he slowly turned back to normal as well just a little more uptight and tense than usual. Without another thought Naruto launched himself at Sakura, wrapping her up in a bear hug as they crashed into the ground, dust flying everywhere.

Laughing, she wrapped her arms around him as well and returned the hug. After a few seconds Naruto picked himself up and offered his hand to help Sakura up.

"What happened Sakura-Chan? Why were all of those guys chasing you? One minute you were on the battle field, and the next you were just gone, as well as Kakashi and your cat. Did someone grab you or did you transport yourself? And how come you aren't hurt anymore?"

"Slow down Naruto. A friend transported us away and healed us, which is why I'm not injured. They were chasing us because our cover got blown by some other losers who surprised attacked them. I'll tell you everything else when we get back to Suna. Now come on, you grab Kakashi and let's head back towards Suna. I really need a bath and a change of clothes ok?" Sakura responded as she dusted herself off and walked over to pick up her now tattered and ratty looking backpack. She wanted to change into her ninja outfit, but she was already so disgusting and didn't want to get her clean clothes dirty, so decided to wait till after her shower. She looked over and noticed that Charna had already awakened, and Feng was updating her on all of the things that had happened.

Naruto left the clearing with Kakashi on his back, Feng and Charna right behind him as they leisurely made their way towards the village. With another sigh, Sakura glanced at the man she had ignored since he showed up. Sasuke didn't look happy, his whole body was still tense, muscles trembling as he tried to suppress his power from lashing out anymore.

Sakura slowly started walking towards him, pausing as she was right next to him. Taking a deep breath, she noticed that even covered in blood he still smelt like a rainstorm. Shaking that thought away she finally was able to open her mouth to talk.

"Thank you Sasuke, I know you and Naruto came to help. While away on this mission, I figured that I was taking my anger out on you even when I told myself I wasn't, and I'm sorry. How about we start over and try to just be friends okay?" she asked, a small smile on her face as she put her hand out showing her peace offering.

Sasuke stared at her hand for a few seconds before he looked back up to her face.

"No." he calmly replied staring down at her.

With a sigh in disappointment Sakura started making her way towards the village, ignoring the small feeling inside her that was hurt he didn't even want to be friends. As a naturally kind and friendly person, it stung that someone you have known your entire life didn't want to be friends, but considering how he treated her for her entire life, she shouldn't be surprised.

Before she got far however, she felt Sasuke grab her wrist, then yank her back towards him. She lost her balance and stumbled into him, her face and body plastered up against his.

Looking up in question about his recent insane action, Sakura was surprised to see all the emotions running through his usually cold eyes. Anger, fear, lust, and another mysterious emotion all twisted within him to give his eyes a stormy appearance.

**-Lime Starts-**

He brought his other hand up and grabbed a handful of her hair, ruining her braids, bringing her face up towards him. His lips smashed onto hers, his tongue demanding entrance to the inside of her mouth.

When she gasped in surprise, he used it to his advantage as his tongue slipped into her mouth, dominating her, tasting every inch of her mouth.

His other hand slid down her body, grabbing her ass as he brought her even closer, forcing her body to mold to his. Deciding to give in and enjoy the sensations for once, Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers gliding up to tangle in his air as she enjoyed their silky sensation of it.

Leaning back, Sasuke pulled back and kissed the side of her face until he reached her ear. He nibbled on it for a minute before licking the outer shell.

"I don't want to be just friends, and we're not going to be. I'm going to be your everything Sakura. You're mine, don't forget that." When he finished talking Sasuke captured her lips again, possessing every inch of her mouth.

Although she would never admit it out loud, she had feared those last few minutes before she lost consciousness that she would die out in the battlefield. After all of her training, she still would have fallen so quickly on her own. She wouldn't make excuses for her weakness; she just had to keep working to become even stronger. She also feared that a lot of things she wanted in life would never happen. She wanted a family, kids, she wanted to catch up with all of her friends, learn what they have been doing with their lives since she has been gone. She wanted to go on missions with Team 7 again, laughing at Naruto for his crazy antics, berating Kakashi for being late and always reading his porn, and even annoying and teasing Sasuke, which had become her new favorite past time.

So for once, she threw herself completely into the kiss she was sharing with Sasuke, matching his hunger with her own. No thoughts of teasing or revenge crossed her mind, just the desperation of a near death experience forcing her to grab a chance at life. Breaking apart for air, Sasuke started kissing her throat and shoulder, leaving hickies in his wake at the place where her shoulder and throat met.

He picked her up and leaned her against a nearby tree, lowering his head to kiss all of the exposed skin on her chest, nudging aside the last few scraps of clothing to suck on her nipple. A low moan left her throat, seeming to urge Sasuke on. He wrapped her legs around his lean waist, as he traced both hands up her body, cupping her breast in each as he captured her lips again.

Sakura released his hair and started tracing patterns on his back, smiling when she felt a small shiver go through Sasuke. He slowly started grinding into her, making her whole body burn. His fingers slowly started making their way to in between her legs, gliding under the tattered fabric and began tracing her core in a teasing manner before dipping in.

Sakura arched her back, trying to get closer to Sasuke any way she could, to force his fingers deeper within her. Sasuke slipped a hand under her right thigh and brought it up to his waist for her to wrap around, opening her even more to his touch. His fingers pumped in and out in a steady pace, occasionally curling in a "come hither" motion, before continuing the endless pumping while gradually speeding up.

He released her leg and grabbed a handful of her hair, forcing her head up and crushing her lips with his own. Sakura could taste the desperation in the kiss, and the urgency Sasuke was feeling. She pulled back and started peppering kiss along his neck, pausing to lick his curse mark before placing a light kiss on it. Feeling Sasuke tremble slightly from the attention, Sakura focused in on that one spot. Sasuke released her hair again as he grabbed her lower back, his hand splayed over her tattoo as he forced her body into grinding with his own. As Sakura kissed his mark again, she felt white hot heat streak through her body, going down to everywhere Sasuke was touching her. She threw her head back with a gasp, and noticed that Sasuke seemed to be effected too.

**-Lime Ends-**

A light started glowing from Sasuke's curse seal, turning quickly into a blinding light, engulfing both of them as Sakura clung to Sasuke tightly. The light started growing hot, and quickly went from pleasant to painful in just a few seconds. It reminded her of the pain she went through when she joined with her inner-self. She felt her and Sasuke slowly start collapsing towards the ground before she finally blacked out for the second time that day.

**Hey guys, sorry for the lengthy times between updates, I've had a hectic schedule. Spring break, looking for a new apartment, three exams the week I get back, arguing with the insurance company to get my truck fixed, and the drama goes on and on. It's ridiculous. Only good thing is I got to hook up with a whole class of navy divers, although half of them were part of the marines. Long story. Anyways, hope you like this chapter and please REVIEW!!! I'm beginning another story, this one is about Twilight, but I will finish this story before I start putting that one out. Look for an update in a few weeks. Love you all! **


	17. Memories

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters except those of my own creation. **

Sakura didn't know what happened. One minute she was getting hot and heavy with Sasuke, the next she's here - Wherever the hell here is. All she saw was black around her. Complete darkness. No sound reached her ears, nothing registered across any of her senses. Trying to keep the small feeling of panic rising in her stomach in check, Sakura tried to figure out where she was and how she got here.

The last thing she remembered was Sasuke touching her tattoo as she was kissing his curse mark, them Bam! Off in the lala land of nothingness. Great. Just freaking great. After a few seconds something finally clicked in her brain. When she was training with Akasde, and finally joined with her inner, she was trapped in a place like this right before the pain became too much and left her knocked out cold. And if that meant that she and her inner joined, than this would mean…..Oh hell no! She better not have joined minds with Sasuke, she would never get anything done with that perverts thoughts going through her head. She had enough gutter space there herself thank you very much.

With a sigh Sakura waited until the show began, not knowing what exactly to expect, but not on the verge of panic anymore. After what felt like eternity of just sitting in the dark, she finally saw a tiny pinpoint of light close by her, almost like a firefly. Cautiously walking towards it, Sakura slowly reached her hand out and touched it. Instantly she felt herself being pulled inside a vortex, like a sharp hook was wrapped around her and some sadistic bastard on the other end pulling.

When she finally stopped, it took her a few seconds to catch her breath before she could take in her surroundings. It looked like she was in Konoha again, except it looked like it did in her Genin days. Walking around slowly, she saw the old academy and headed towards it. Before she got inside though, a herd of kids ran out the door, running through her as they ran towards the playground. Freaked out by the whole ghost experience of people just walking right through you, Sakura turned around when she saw a head of pink.

She was shocked to see ten year old self. She had her hair pulled back by the old ribbon she used to wear that Ino had given her. Looking around she spotted Sasuke over to the side, practicing throwing his Kunai at a tree. A group of fangirls already close by gushing over how cool he was and giggling.

After watching the rest of the school day go by, at the end of the day she followed Sasuke home, since this was obviously suppose to be his memory. She watched him happily make his way towards the Uchiha district, and a chill went up Sakura's spine. She had an uneasy feeling that she knew where she was heading now. She had never seen Sasuke really smile like that that she could remember, and he had certainly never _happily_ gone anywhere. Sucking it up, Sakura quickly caught up to him as he reached the gates.

She could feel immediately the death that was inside of the place. The gate was halfway open, but no sounds at all came from inside the compound. Walking inside, Sakura was right behind Sasuke as he was greeted with a horrible sight. Sakura had never really seen the damage that had really been done to the Uchihas, but looking at it now, she felt sympathy for Sasuke and the nightmares she knew he must still have even to this day.

Bodies were everywhere; blood ran like water across the ground. Buildings had burn marks around the edges, signs here and there of them trying to fight back. Horror was etched on most of the faces, showing signs that their last moments here on Earth had been a brutal and unforgiving one. She saw Sasuke tremble, tears streaming down his cheeks with fear in his eyes. He started running towards his house, carefully dodging all of the bodies in the way.

His cries for his mother were like knives into Sakura's heart, because she knew what happened next. With sorrow filling her own eyes, Sakura stepped inside his house. Sasuke's father was in the front room, lying down on his stomach, a puddle of blood surrounding him. A kunai was sticking out of his back, and he looked more damaged than the others, like Itachi had taken extra time on him. Sasuke quickly ran by him towards the kitchen, still calling out for his mom, his voice cracking badly. Stepping in, Sakura was horrified by what she saw.

Sasuke's mom looked like a broken doll on the floor. She was lying on her back, her face turned towards the door with her arm stretched out towards the door resting on the ground. It looked like she had tried to reach her husband in her final moments of life. Her eyes had the glazed look over them that Sakura had seen many times while working in the hospital from the Shinobi that were beyond their help. Blood had slipped out of her mouth running down the side of her face that had joined her dried tears.

What really was the most horrifying part of this was that Itachi was still here, standing over his dead mother with the weapon that had killed her still dripping blood down onto the body below. Blood covered his entire body; he looked like something straight out of a horror novel. His eyes looked like the devil himself with the Sharingan shining bright amongst the gore.

She watched as Sasuke fell to his knees crying, a look of pure disbelief gracing his face. Itachi made his way towards Sasuke, touching his forehead before he could move away. Sakura walked closer and touched his shoulder, allowing her to be dragged into the illusion that Itachi had showed Sasuke. She lived through every horrifying moment along with him as she watched his clan murdered. She felt the tears falling down heavily from her eyes now. Sasuke's pain was also channeled into her, and the magnitude took her breath away.

Suddenly the world began spinning again, and Sakura found herself back in the academy again. Shaking her head a bit to regain her senses, she looked around to see the significance of this memory. Iruka-sensei came in, a list in his hands as he looked at the classroom full of kids. Ah, now she got it. This was the day that they were assigned their Genin teams. She watched her younger self blush like mad as she heard that she was put on the same team as "her Sasuke-kun". Even now that made Sakura want to slap herself. She did have to laugh a bit though as she saw the forever infamous kiss between Sasuke and Naruto.

Flashing forward again, she saw her team as they met Kakashi-sensei for the first time. She still to this day couldn't understand how he fell for Naruto's stupid trick with the eraser. The man had probably happily been off in his own gutter system was the best she could come up with.

She quickly passed through all of the memories that she shared with Sasuke, reliving all of his life in fast forward basically. The first time she met Orochimaru and he gave the curse to Sasuke. The day he fought Haku, looking like an abused porcupine afterwards. She cringed for him when she saw herself hug him - not exactly her brightest moment there. She watched as he saved her from the sound-nin during the Chunin exams, his battle with Gaara, and finally they made it to the dreaded bench. She definitely knew how this went down. But with the years as a buffer, she looked on with no emotion as she saw herself cry and beg him to stay.

The memories after that began to blur, giving her glimpses of his training with Orochimaru, how he joined his new team. She saw several random fights between himself and Naruto through the years. The most important memory she saw was his battle with Itachi. The fight was brutal, neither brother holding back as they tried to kill each other. From the outside they looked like equals fighting, but with Sakura's knowledge of the body she could see how Itachi was weakening more rapidly than his younger brother. The gauntness of his body also showed long signs of poor health. She was as Sasuke finally killed his brother, tears in his eyes once again as he finally killed his last living relative.

As she saw Itachi finally fall, she felt herself getting light headed as well. Before she could do anything she felt herself crashing down onto the ground as she lost consciousness.

***

As she regained consciousness for the second time, she felt a warm body underneath her. Cracking her eyes open, she was greeted with the color white. After a few seconds to orient herself, she slowly looked up and saw that she was resting on top of Sasuke. His eyes started to flutter, as he seemed to come around as well. Putting her hands against his chest, she used him as leverage to push herself up into a sitting position. Looking around she saw that they were still in the same clearing, and a obviously not a lot of time had gone by because Naruto was back hounding at them to hurry up.

Looking back as Sasuke she saw him watching at her with a questioningly look.

"So did you go through the same thing I did?" Sakura asked him.

She watched as he seemed to gather himself for a few more seconds before he spoke.

"What the hell was that? It seemed like I lived through all of your memories. Like a genjutsu or something."

Sakura took in his answer/question with a small sigh. So it was kind of like when she joined her inner. She learned more about him, while he probably learned a whole lot more about her than he ever wanted to know.

"I've gone through this once before Sasuke, it's kind of like a bonding of sorts. Where you lived through my memories, I lived through your. It happened after we touched each other's marks, so I'm sure that it's related somehow."

Sasuke leaned his head back against the tree as he took all of it in.

"But I touched your tattoo, it's not a curse seal like mine. Is it?" he asked as he looked back at her.

"Actually no, mine is a seal as well, but more like Tsunade's. It was created a little bit after I started my training with Akasde. I bonded in a way with Charna and Feng along with my Inner-self, and my seal formed on my back. Akasde said it was just the physical form of the bond, holding chakra there for when I needed it to use the bond or something." Sakura answered.

Sasuke suddenly got a pleased look on his face that made Sakura very suspicious of him all of the sudden.

"Sasuke, what are you smiling for?" she asked, not quite sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Well you said that every time you have bonded with someone that it shows a part of them right? Well since we both believe that just happened to us, you have to have something of me on you now too," he replied, the smugness coming off of him in nauseating waves.

***

Sasuke couldn't help the unholy glee that went through him as he thought about her permanently having his mark on her. After his comment she started squirming in his lap, trying in vain to look at her back to see if he was right.

Curious himself, and to help keep his body from reacting anymore than it already had to her squirming, he grabbed her hips and forced her to twist to the side some. He slide his hand across and up her back, dragging what was left of her kimono out of the way so that he could see her mark.

"Sasuke, what are you doing, I'm trying to look at it!" She snapped at him.

"Be still and I can look at it and tell you." Sakura glared at him before looking away.

The tattoo still had the two panthers in front, but now the Uchiha fan was prominent in the background now, the ying yang sign morphed to black and white vines that wrapped around the bottom of the fan. Sasuke smirked at the mark, and felt a wave of possessiveness go through him at the thought that she would always be marked by him now. Easing back, he turned Sakura back around so she was fully straddling his lap once again.

"So what does it look like now?" she asked impatiently, her aggravation plan to see on her face.

"No one will mistake it for anything else but the Uchiha symbol; it took over the ying yang sign now. You will be able to see it when we get back to the village."

Nodding her head, she moved to get up when he locked his arms around her. Her eyebrow twitched for a second as she glared back down at him.

"Sasuke what are you doing? We need to get back, there is no telling how long we have been out here."

Pulling her even closer, Sasuke gently nuzzled the side of her neck, breathing in the unique smell of her. He made his way up past her jaw, kissing her as he went. He blew against her ear just to feel her shiver again.

"I'm not done with you yet Sakura. Or did you forget what we were doing out here just a few minutes ago?" he asked before he started kissing her neck again, making sure to leave several marks there so everyone would know what they had been up to. Especially that prick Gaara.

"Sasuke you perv, we have to go. Besides, the moment of insanity has passed. I can't handle anything else right now. So get your ass up and come on!" she snapped as she pulled out of his hold and stood up, dusting herself off as she waited for him.

Disgruntled he picked himself up as he headed towards her, grabbing her by the waist as he dragged her to him.

"Sakura, we will finish what we started, never doubt that, especially after what we just went through. But I will agree that now is not the time or place, but when we get back to Konoha, be ready. This will be your only warning."

With that he leaned down and captured her lips before she could blast him with the retort he saw coming, quickly dominating her mouth. Sasuke savored the taste of her, enjoying her body pressed so close to him. When he felt her start to melt against him, he broke off. Giving her a second to get her feet back under her, he finally let her go and took a step back.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked as he turned back towards Suna.

"Yeah yeah, I'm the one who has been waiting on you." was the snarky reply from behind him as the both took off.

'_Kami he can be such a jackass.'_

Sasuke froze as he heard that. Sakura barely stopped in time to keep from running into him as he turned around again.

"What the hell Sasuke? I thought we were leaving?" she growled at him.

Sasuke still just stared at her. What the hell indeed.

"Sakura, did you just call me a jackass?" he asked.

Her face went white as her mouth gapped open a bit, a look of horror filling her eyes. After a minute of just gawking at him she finally pulled herself together a bit although she looked resigned.

"Damn, this day just had to throw one more thing at me didn't it. I need some sake."

**I can only bow my head in shame and beg for forgiveness. My life has been such a mess lately that fanfiction was the very last thing on my mind. But I won't bog you down with all of my worries/excuses, because honestly it took me almost a frigging year to update. A YEAR?! God I need to kick my own ass. So definitely sorry about the total lack of updates. I cranked this out in two hours after my tax midterm because I was in such a good mood for once. So hoped you enjoyed it, and with Spring Break coming up next week I will try to motivate my ass into updating again, but no promises. I have to help my mom get around after she had hip replacement. Thanks for all the reviews and support, ya'll help guilt me into writing and make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that someone does like me for something other than a psychiatrist. So take this as my gift to you. Now I must sleep. **


	18. Beginning of a Connection

**AN: If you have not done so recently, please go back and reread this story up to this point. I had forgotten what it was really about, and I wrote the crazy thing. I'll talk more at the end, so please enjoy. **

Naruto knew many people believed that he was oblivious to most things, and he had to admit to himself that for most things - he was. But even _he _couldn't miss that something was going on between Sasuke and Sakura. Ever since they returned after Naruto left them in the field, something had been off about them. After several days of helping Suna clean up the battle field, they were on their way back to Konoha and it seemed that things between them were just getting stranger.

For one, Sakura kept randomly glaring at Sasuke for no apparent reason, and he could have sworn he had heard her hiss at him to stop several times. She seemed to blush a lot more, but not in the fan-girl way she used to.

Sasuke on the other hand, looked almost delighted. The _Sasuke Uchiha_ looked like he was having_ fun_. Fun! And somehow it was at Sakura's expense. But no matter how much Naruto started watching them, he couldn't figure out the big joke.

Even Sakura's overgrown cats seemed to be in on it, and had picked sides too. Feng was running beside Sasuke while Charna stayed with Sakura. And several times Charna pounced on Feng and swiped at him.

Naruto scratched his head as all of these thoughts flew through his mind. Maybe it was something in the water. With that thought Naruto put up his water canteen and silently promised himself not to drink anything till they were closer to Konoha and he was sure nothing was wrong with it.

He was brought out of his thoughts as he dodged a rock flying towards him. Looking at where it came from, he saw Sasuke deflect another one that Sakura had thrown at his head.

"Ne, Sakura-Chan, why all the violence against Sasuke?" Naruto asked as she seemed to get angrier with every miss. When her head whipped around to look at him, Naruto gulped at the angry fire in her eyes. He saw his life flash before his eyes as he let out a high pitched scream and started running away from the banshee chasing him.

**XXX**

Kakashi couldn't help but shake his head at the stupidity of Naruto. After wondering for the millionth time what he had done so wrong to deserve him as a student, he went back to pretending to read _Icha-Icha. _Not that he was tired of his precious books, but it was much more fun to watch Sasuke and Sakura dance around each other.

Ever since Sakura had returned to Konoha, the sexual tension between them had been off the charts. If only Jiraiya was here to see them, he would have enough material for two or more new books! It was so thick between them that he itched to bring his kunai out to see if he really could cut through the tension between them. But he wisely refrained. No need to bait the killer intent of Sakura or Sasuke. He valued his body the way it was thank you very much.

He was surprised that Sasuke hadn't thrown her up against a tree and ravished her yet though. Out of character for him, true, but with the strength of arousal that Kakashi could smell coming off him, he wouldn't be surprised if he cracked.

For once he wished he didn't have a heightened sense of smell from his link with his dog pack. He was drowning in the smell of arousal rolling off the two like a tidal wave. Although Sakura's scent was also laced with annoyance and anger at Sasuke too.

Something had definitely changed with them though. Sasuke could hardly take his eyes off her, and Sakura obviously felt it. The tick of her eyebrow that she used to have as a kid when greatly annoyed was back, and it seemed that Sasuke had a direct link to it now. Kakashi was almost giddy with the thought of the fireworks that would go off when these two finally collided. He knew it would be an entertaining show for everyone to watch them to fight it out until Sakura finally said yes. Or killed Sasuke.

He picked up his pace as the others fell in behind him so that they would reach Konoha in another hour or so.

**XXX**

Sakura was royally _pissed off_! Ever since the weird incident with the mind invasion, she and Sasuke had developed telepathy with each other. One would believe that sharing a link with such a quiet man would not be that worrisome, but they would be _wrong_! Oh so wrong.

Sasuke was using the link to try to slowly drive her insane, she was sure of it. And apparently the ice cube had a library's worth of pornographic material that would put Jiraiya to shame, because it was like a non-stop porn movie playing through her mind. She vaguely remembered someone telling her it was always the quiet ones that were the biggest perverts, and Sakura couldn't help but agree.

If she passed a high rock, Sasuke would show her laid out on it as he ravished her. And Kami help her with all the trees around. He apparently had a fetish for them. Now even she couldn't pass one without an image of them having sex against it. She was terrified to go near a hot spring and see what he could come up with.

'_You know you would enjoy every minute of it_.' a deep voice floated through her mind, sending a slight shiver down her spine that she made sure to hide from him. Damn the man anyways. She refused to even dignify him with a response to his teasing.

The only comfort she got out of this was that she knew he was torturing himself as well. She could feel his lust building with every fantasy he threw at her. She smirked as she imagined that pain he must be feeling jumping through the trees. Most guys said it was painful just to walk, much less run like they were doing. She bit her lower lip to stifle her giggle.

'_You won't be laughing when we get home. I promise you that we will finish this today_.' he threw at her.

'_Not on your life Uchiha. I'm doing my report, taking a nice hot long shower, and going to bed. Nothing about you in the program.' _

She glared at him, then huffed and turned back around. She felt relief wash through her as she saw the gates appear in the distance, and the team unanimously sped up at the sight of home. Sakura was ecstatic on the promise of being able to sleep in her bed for more than one night. The heat had been stifling at Suna, and sweat just made sleeping uncomfortable. That and she could get some space in between her and the bane of her existence at the moment.

Passing the guards with a nod of acknowledgment, they all headed towards the Hokage tower. Walking their way up the stairs, Sakura knocked on the door. After hearing Tsunade give her permission for entering, they walked in and lined up in front of her desk.

"Report" Tsunade said as she looked up at them from her paperwork.

XXX

After finishing their lengthy reports, the team separated and each made their way home. The sun had gone down hours ago before they were allowed to be released, and Sakura didn't see hardly a soul as she traveled to her apartment. Sakura could hear the song her hot shower was singing though, and couldn't wait to answer its call. However, her rotten luck had decided to remain vigil, and to her horror she found that her hot water tank had decided to commit suicide since she left. Apparently years of no use and then being overworked on her first day back was just too much for it. After a few precious seconds (or minutes) of glaring in disbelief at the cold water coming out of her shower head, Sakura finally admitted to herself that she had a problem.

Fatigue was weighing her down after the mission caught up to her, yet she knew she would be unable to get any real sleep without a shower. And she really didn't want a cold shower right now. All the knots in her neck and back from the tension she had felt from the mission and Sasuke needed some relief. Which left her with one option – the hot springs. While normally she avoided those areas like the plague due to the gossiping biddies, tonight she was desperate. She needed to get clean - now! And a good soak would do her sore muscles some good and help her wind down. So with minimal grumbling, she gathered a fresh pair of clothes to change into later, put out some fresh food for Charna and Feng, and headed towards the nearest one she could remember that was hopefully still open 24 hours. It catered more to the ninjas of the village than the civilians.

Sakura decided to take her time and walk there, to enjoy the serenity of the night. She was tired anyways so it made no sense to waste energy to get there quicker. The stars had come out by now, and she could't help but admire them. She always had a fascination with stars, as a kid she wished on them to make Sasuke fall in love with her, but as an adult she saw the beauty and magic they hold of their own. Star-gazing helped to clear her head. And that was something she desperately needed right now.

She hadn't been that close to dying in a long time, and it had shaken her more than she let her teammates know. Not even Sasuke with his new access to her inner thoughts was aware of her turmoil. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she was afraid of dying. She felt like she had so much to live for.

Her life up to this point had been chasing a dream of being stronger. Of being able to protect others. However, the brush with death made her wonder the point of it if she had nothing to really live for. What memories would people hold of her? A few years of help at the hospital? Her notorious past as a fan girl for Sasuke? Tsunade's apprentice? What had she done with her life to make it worthwhile. She didn't care about fame, it was more of a burden than most people knew. She had finally reached another catalyst in her life that she had to make a decision that would forever shape her future. She had finally reached the strength she wanted, both physical and mental. She was no longer dependent on people's opinion of her, and was a real threat to even the strongest in the world now.

It seemed that after three years away, she had come back home only to reach another crossroad in her life. But it was a good feeling, because Sakura was confident that she could accomplish anything she set her mind to now. And the thing she wanted the most now was to find her place back here again. As much as she wanted to deny it, there was an attraction she felt for Sasuke. She wasn't dead for heavens sake. The man was gorgeous. But after her trip down memory lane in his mind, she understood a lot more of what he went through that drove him to leave his village, and the trials he went through when he was away.

This didn't mean she forgave him, but it did go a long way in giving her a road she could go down into one day forgiving him. She would even admit to herself that she may fine some satisfaction in seeing him trying to grovel a little bit to win her approval. It would help sooth the memory of her lost pride as a child. Not that he was responsible for her actions when she was that age, but he also didn't have to be as big a prick as he was to her.

But if she learned anything while training with both Tsunade and Akasde, is that dwelling in the past mistakes and pain from yourself and others only drags you down. Tsunade lost a lot of years of her life trying to drown the pain away in alcohol and gambling houses. Sakura didn't want to lose a potential friend by holding his past mistakes against him. She was a bigger person than that now. Although she would admit that she wasn't a big enough person to be friends with Karin. It had nothing to do with Sasuke and everything to do with her bad attitude and trying to attack her at the ramen stand. And she was just trashy.

Sakura couldn't keep the smirk off her face at the thought of how bad of shape Karin would be in after a few days of the jutsu on her. It would wear off in another week. But it would be hysterical to watch her until then.

Sakura was brought out of her thoughts by the sight of the hot springs appearing in front of her. She was relieved that it was still there, and open. She would hate to have to go through town tonight to try and find another one. Making her way inside, she quickly paid the woman at the desk, and made her way to the lockers. Shedding her clothes, she washed off the grime first in one of the nearby shower stalls, before wrapping up in a white towel and headed to the hot springs out back.

When she walked out, Sakura was relieved to see that she was alone. She really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment. Especially if it wasn't anyone she knew. Taking off her towel, Sakura slowly slid her tired body into the water, a sigh escaping her as she immediately started feeling the relaxing effect it had on her. Kami-sama did she ever need this.

After letting her mind just drift in a haze while she soaked, Sakura heard somebody changing clothes in the locker room nearby. Trying to appear asleep, Sakura put a wash clothe over her eyes and laid her head back on a nearby stone, moving to get comfortable. She vaguely heard the person get into the water a few minutes later, but didn't feel any threat from them, and they didn't say anything so Sakura felt safe to ignore them. Which turned out to be a mistake on her part, because a few seconds later she felt them get close and grab her before she could react.

When the rag fell off of her face, she turned around to see – of course – Sasuke had been the one to grab ahold of her. Well damn. Just damn it all. There went her relaxation.

"Sasuke, what the hell are you doing here?" Sakura hissed at him, not wanting to draw any undue attention from the lady at the front desk. No need to make this anymore awkward then it already was.

"I came here to relax Sakura, what are you doing here?" he answered her, a smirk on his face as she glared at him. She started trying to struggle to get out of his grip, but he just pulled her tighter against himself. She froze when she felt his erection up against her back, for a moment letting her shyness get to her.

"Sasuke let me go!" she snapped as she began her struggles again, trying to lean her body forward to avoid his.

"But Sakura, you feel so good rubbing your body up against mine, why would I want to let you go?" Sasuke answered before he started slowly kissing her neck, and one of his arms slowly started to slide its way up towards dangerous territory.

"Dammit Sasuke, stop being an ass! I'm trying to relax here, and you are ruining it." Sakura could feel the pout on her face, but couldn't help it. Couldn't she get a moments peace?

XXX

Sasuke could feel himself respond even more to her sexy pout as she chastised him, but he could also see the fatigue in her eyes. Not wanting to really push her he decided to compromise.

"Alright, we can both just lay here and relax then. I promise I won't do anything Sakura. I'm as tired as you are." Sasuke said, trying to calm her down some. Honestly he just wanted to enjoy feeling her against him. She wasn't the only one tired.

When she began to try and pull away from him again, he tightened his grip and pulled them both back towards a rock by the edge of the spa.

"Sasuke..."

"Hush Sakura. I promise I won't try anything tonight. Just let me hold you so we can both relax." Sasuke cut her off while he moved to sit on the rock, then pulled her up onto his lap. The water was now at about mid-chest for him, and went up to her shoulders. He closed his eyes for just a moment to enjoy the way her body felt against his. Her skin was silky smooth, without any flaws due to her skill as a medic. Her body just seemed to mold into his, the missing piece to a puzzle.

"You are so annoying, you know that right? And how can I relax when we are both naked?" Sakura continued to argue with him.

"Are you saying that I get to you Sakura?" he asked, feeling smug when she turned her head to glare at him, a small blush on her cheeks now.

"Ugh, just shut up. I'm too tired to get into it with you right now Sasuke. Your driving me crazy!" Sakura huffed, as she finally gave in and leaned back against his chest. Sasuke wrapped his arms tighter around her to keep her in place, then true to his word just laid back and relaxed. It would be good if he started gaining her trust again. And it wouldn't hurt to get her used to being around him without clothes on. He was still a guy with a gorgeous woman in his lap. One that he had many plans for in the future.

After a few minutes of awkward silence and tension, Sakura finally started to slowly relax. They both just laid there and enjoyed the heat from the water that helped relieve any soreness they had. After some time had passed, Sakura's breathing had evened out, and she felt completely boneless in his arms.

Sasuke chanced looking down at her and watch her while she was asleep. Her face was relaxed, the moisture from the spa clinging to her hair to make it glisten. She really had turned into a beautiful woman from the little girl he remembered her as. Sakura was definitely more than he could have ever dreamed of. And he couldn't help but admire the drive and motivation that got her to where she was today.

He reflected back on the joining they had in the forest by Suna. He had never felt as guilty about the day he left Konoha as he did feeling it from her point of view. She wasn't lying when she told him his leaving would hurt her. It had definitely shaped her life, especially at the beginning. He saw the tears she cried. Felt her abandonment when Kakashi and Naruto left her to go train and do missions. The struggle she went through to get Tsunade as a sensei, and the trials and tribulations she went through during that training.

Sasuke called himself all kinds of a fool when he reflected on the few times he had tried to kill her. Those days were honestly a blur for him for the most part. His hatred and anger had blinded him from anything and everything around him that wasn't something that could make him stronger. At that time he was too caught up in the dark part of his soul to realize that his blindness towards others was his weakness.

As genin, while Sakura was not much help physically during a fight, she often helped them with her knowledge about different countries and their fighting styles, as well as was the most informed on how to actually survive in the wild. She had a lot of potential inside her, but everyone wrote her off because she was weak. Sasuke couldn't help but be proud of her in that she proved everyone wrong. She was now one of the strongest people in the world – male or female. Her growth was honestly the most impressive thing that anyone in team 7 had accomplished. More than his revenge, more than Naruto's power and control over the Kyuubi, more than any of it. She truly was a remarkable woman now.

Because of that, Sasuke knew that for as much as he enjoys teasing her, she deserves the best he can give her. Emotionally that was difficult for him, but after seeing her past through her eyes, he knew for a fact that she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Not to just restore his clan, but to really build a life together with her. She now understands his past better than anyone else ever could, and in her own way she has really always understood him, whether he was right or wrong. And Sasuke knew that in order to win her over, he would have to prove to her that she was important to him. She would never consent to settle down with strong emotions behind it now.

It was no longer a childhood fantasy of hers, but the adult relationship that he hoped she would work with him on building. It would take some time, and probably a lot of uncomfortable moments on his part where he would need to learn how to let her in some. Because even he could clearly see that he wouldn't be able to keep his ingrained guard up around his emotions and let her in at the same time. She wanted, and deserved, to feel loved, and that was something he couldn't deny her after all she had been through. And honestly, he was so tired of being angry and shut off from the world. If anyone could help him reconnect, it would be Sakura. It had really always been Sakura, and Naruto occasionally. But he knew that if anyone was capable of making him love them, it would be Sakura. She could be his one true shot of the happiness that had been missing since the night his brother massacred his family. With Itachi finally gone, a new chapter to his life could finally open.

A movement from Sakura dragged Sasuke from his thoughts, and when he looked down he noticed she was deeply asleep now, her eyes flickering behind her eyelids showing she was in REM sleep. Gingerly picking her up bridal style, he made his way to their discarded towels, and draped them over Sakura to help cover her up in case anyone walked in. Laying her down on a nearby bench, Sasuke quickly changed into his clothes, and grabbed hers as well from a nearby locker. Placing her clothes on top of her as well, Sasuke teleported them back to his bedroom at his house nearby.

Knowing she would probably be pissed tomorrow morning about this, Sasuke still couldn't resist the chance to fall asleep with her tonight. He gently laid her down on the side of his huge bed, and couldn't stop the possessive and primitive feelings that went through him at seeing her on his bed. Fantasies of what the two of them could do with all the room of his bed flashed through his brain, and Sasuke had to take a deep and slow breath to try and control himself.

He quickly stripped his clothes back off, and crawled into the bed beside Sakura. She curled up to him, her head laying on his shoulder and her arm wrapped around his chest. Sasuke gently moved her hair out of her face, and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Content with having her next to him, Sasuke slowly started to drift off to sleep as well. His last thoughts before sleep took him under was that he couldn't wait to see her face when she woke up in the morning.

**AN: Good lord that was hard to write. Hope that it met with all of your approval. Sorry I was late on updating again. I really am super bad with that on this website. Anyways, to kind of explain about this chapter, I went in a little bit of a different direction than I had originally planned for Sasuke and Sakura and their budding relationship. I wanted to kind of go into more depth about how they feel about each other, because obviously it will be different after so long a separation and with all the things that happened to them in between. They will need to get to know each other more before they can honestly feel any true emotions. The connection they received in the last chapter was a way to kind of speed that up, as well as give them true insight into the other person that they might not otherwise divulge. So a little bit of soul searching in this chapter begins. **

**Also, I have not written anything for the next chapter, and my life is hectic right now with trying to get our house ready to sell, as well as look for a new job. So with time and motivation willing to come together and work with me, I should have another chapter coming out in a little bit. Won't be near as long a wait as this chapter was, I can at least promise that. But not really much else. **

**So again, please review with any comments you have, both good and bad about the story. This is my first and I always look for ways to improve. I am also going back through some of the old chapters and fixing some mistakes there as well. So hopefully it will read a little bit better. Lots of love til next time! **


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